Nicholas Lochoff (d.1948) after

Vittore Carpaccio (Venetian, c.1460-1526)
THE ARRIVAL OF THE AMBASSADORS

Original (1496-9) in the Accademia, Venice Tempera on canvas

This is one in a series of nine large canvases, painted by Carpaccio for the Scuola di Sant'Orsola in Venice, that tell the legend of Saint Ursula. Another painting in the series represents how Ursula, her 10 maids of honor, and the 11,000 virgins who accompanied them were slaughtered by the Huns at Cologne while returning from Rome. This scene shows the pagan Prince of Britain soliciting marriage to the Christian Ursula, Princess of Brittany. On the other side of the wall, Ursula is listing her demands to her father, including the prince's conversion and three years for a pilgrimage to Rome. It was not unusual to show figures more than once in a painting, as it helped to clarify the narrative. Here, Ursula's father is shown in the two scenes in order to advance the story.

Text by Robert Gerwing.
Copyright 2004.