DOGE'S PALACE, Anticollegio And Collegio

You are now on the Second Noble Floor, in a room full of stuccoes with a magnificent fireplace flanked by sculpted figures: this is the so-called Anticollegio, or antechamber, which was designed by the great architect Andrea Palladio. It served as a waiting room for the famous people who came to visit the Doge. Along the walls you can see a real gallery of Venetian masters of the second half of the 16th century.

The four canvases that you see on the sides of the doors are by Jacopo Tintoretto, and have complex mythological subjects, rich in symbolic allusions. Each painting is set in a different season of the year and is linked to one of the four primordial elements: earth, water, air, and fire.

The Abduction of Europe from the end of the 1500s is one of the most famous works by Paolo Veronese, thanks to the elegant figure of Europe sitting on the white bull that, if you look carefully, is licking Europe's foot. The bull is actually the god Zeus, who is about to kidnap the girl.

Now pause the audio and go to the Sala del Collegio, or Cabinet Room....