Sposalizio del Mare con Bucintoro.

Description

A true rarity of Venice — the only known first-state example.

This finely executed engraving by Giovanni Temini, attributed to the Venetian publisher Stefano Scolari and dated 1618, vividly captures the grandeur of the Sposalizio del Mare or “Marriage of the Sea,” one of the most iconic ceremonies of the Venetian Republic.

The print commemorates the Festa della Sensa (Feast of the Ascension)—a civic and religious festival held each year on Ascension Day, during which the Doge of Venice sailed aboard the lavish Bucintoro, the state galley, to the mouth of the port at San Nicolò del Lido. There, in a ritual symbolizing Venice’s dominion over the sea, he would cast a gold ring into the Adriatic while pronouncing, “Desponsamus te, mare” (“We wed thee, sea”), reaffirming the city’s sacred and political bond with the waters that ensured its prosperity.

Temini’s etching offers a dynamic, dual perspective of the ceremony, depicting both the departure from Piazza San Marco and the arrival at the Lido, encapsulating the pageantry and spectacle of the event. The dense flotilla of noble and popular vessels shown surrounding the Bucintoro underscores the broad civic participation and festive spirit that characterized the occasion. The scene is rendered with notable clarity and movement, though, as later critics observed, Temini appears unfamiliar with Venetian rowing technique: the oars in his vessels are improbably placed on the same side, which would have rendered the boats unsteerable—a humorous anachronism noted by Venetian scholars.

This engraving serves as a valuable historical record of Venice’s enduring relationship with the sea—an expression of civic identity, religious symbolism, and political ritual that anchored the Republic’s maritime power in both image and ceremony.

Census and publication history

This first state of the print, marked by the signature “Gio: Temini forma” in the lower right corner and the coat of arms of Doge Antonio Priuli (elected in 1618) in the upper right, is considered exceptionally rare. Later states altered the date to 1623, replaced the artist’s name with “In Venetia,” and introduced compositional changes, including the addition of a standing figure in the foreground. These later states are also extremely rare; we know of only on other offered for sale in the past 25 years.

The inclusion of inscriptions and motifs shared with a print by Justus Sadeler, also published by Scolari, strengthens the attribution of this work to Scolari’s workshop. Furthermore, the involvement of Temini’s brother Alessandro Temini, known to have collaborated with Scolari, supports this link.