Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy’s North East

The Triumph of Venice (Il Trionfo di Venezia), a large oil painting by Andrea Celesti (1637–1712) on the ceiling of the Venetian Room (Sala Veneta) in the Castle of San Giusto in Trieste. The centre of the painting is filled by the figure of Venice represented as a female Doge (the chief magistrate of the Republic of Venice) transported by two boys, Eolus and Zephyrus, and an old man, the god of the sea Neptune. At her feet, naked, is Ceres, goddess of earth and agriculture. Above Venice, high up in the sky, there is a dove, symbol of the Holy Ghost, flanked by a cherub with an olive branch and by an angel holding an open book (on which in Mark’s motto can be read: Pax Tibi Marce Evangelista Meus - may peace be with you, Mark, my Evangelist). Lastly Venice is paid homage to by the personifications of the four continents: Europe, riding the bull Jupiter turned himself into to kidnap her; Africa and Asia, represented by two men wearing turbans, one accompanied by a dromedary and the other by an elephant; and America, the man with dark-coloured skin in the background.