engleski

Painted History and Military Imagery in the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni in Venice

Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni (today Scuola Dalmata dei SS. Giorgio e Trifone) was founded in 1451 with the purpose of providing spiritual and charitable support to "Dalmati e altri Schiavoni" who came to Venice from the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. Their loyalty towards the Republic of Venice and their contribution to the glory of the Serenissima found their visual expression in painted works of art that decorate the seat of the Confraternity, namely in images of battles and fortified Dalmatian cities included in religious paintings, conceived as permanent reminders of the origin of individuals who commissioned them and of their achievements under the flag of the Most Serene Republic. Military imagery introduced in 16th- and 17th- century religious or votive images which decorate the Scuola's seat develops along different lines, from battle scenes incorporated in larger compositions which include various saints and a donor (Christ in Glory with the Virgin and Saints and a Donor), confraternity members in military attire depicted in the guise of the Scuola's patron saint (Madonna and Child with St Tryphon and a confraternity member shown as St George), paintings which commemorate specific battles and victorious confraternity members (Battle at the Gulf of Patras with the Portrait of Marco Ivanovich), to representations of saints, namely the patron saint St George shown in his common role of a warrior fighting a dragon or in the scene of his martyrdom assisted by numerous Roman soldiers. While scenes of battles fought at sea represent a direct reference to the participation of confraternity members in military conquests of the Serenissima, narrative frameworks of painted scenes decorating both floors of the Scuola's seat – from Carpaccio's famous "teleri" to paintings by anonymous 17th-century artists – contain references to specific events and protagonists significant for the history of the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni and its position within the multicultural Venetian society.

military imagery ; painting ; Venice ; Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni

nije evidentirano