Bacchus, Venus and Ariadne

This was painted to be seen while you waited. Tintoretto made it around 1577 for the Anticollegio in the Doge's Palace, the antechamber where foreign ambassadors sat cooling their heels before being admitted to the Venetian government. On the wall in front of them, Bacchus, god of wine, rises from the sea to offer a ring to Ariadne, while the goddess Venus lowers a crown of stars onto her head. To a Venetian the meaning was plain. The marriage stood for Venice herself, wedded to the sea that made her rich and powerful. Ariadne stretches out her ring finger to receive it. Tintoretto set the three figures low and close to the water, so the diplomats met them almost at eye level.