La Prospérité

In 1574 fire went through part of the Doge's Palace and destroyed the ceiling of the room where the doge and his councillors received foreign ambassadors. The replacement was ordered the following year, a carved and gilded framework holding 11 canvases by Veronese, finished within a few years. The subjects were picked to be read by the visitors standing below, so they spell out the virtues the Republic claimed for its own government. Prosperity is one of eight allegorical figures set around the central oval, a matron carrying a cornucopia and the herald's staff of Mercury, the attributes of abundance and of trade. The carved wall panelling and the raised tribune where the doge sat have survived in the room along with it.