In a hallway behind and to the right of the High Altar is the tomb of Doge Michiel, a legendary Doge who ruled from 1118 to 1130. An ally of the Crusaders, he defeated the Egyptian fleet off Ascalon in 1123. This marked the end of Saracen sea power in the eastern Mediterranean. He took the city of Tyre and arranged for important trade considerations for Venice. Back in Venice after a two year absence he arranged for the first street lighting in a European city. After an eleven year reign he retired to the monastery at San Giorgio. Because his original tomb was destroyed by the Benedictines during their iconoclastic stage, the family of Doge Michiel insisted his tomb be restored. It was rebuilt by Baldassare Longhena.
Palma Il Giovane
b. as Jacopo Palma, Venice 1548 - d. 1628
Since the 17th Century, the painter has been known as Palma Il Giovane ('the younger') because his great uncle had the same name. He may have first trained in his father's workshop, but he became a much better painter. He did some early traveling to Urbino and to Rome. Palma Giovane received his first major public commission after the devastating fire in the Ducal Palace in 1577. He painted three canvases for the ceiling of the Great Council Hall, and nearly 20 years later he worked in the Senate Chamber of the Ducal Palace. One of his greatest commissions was for the oratory of the Crociferi between 1583 and 1592. After the death of Tintoretto in 1594, Palma Giovane became the most sought after artist in Venice He also worked further afield, in other regions of Italy, the Dalmatian coast and including the courts of the Emperor Rudolf II and of King Sigismund III of Poland.
|
1) San Giorgio Maggiore [202]
