The Ambassadors Return to the English Court (detail)

The view of the city is dominated by the splendid Renaissance palace, almost a symbol of Vittore Carpaccio’s architectural painting. The description of the interiors is suggested by the volumetric structure of the building, whose wide arch depicted in deep shadow recalls the buildings painted about twenty years earlier by Antonello da Messina in his St Sebastian for the church of San Giuliano in Venice. The fa�ades consist of luminous surfaces, enclosed by frames of projecting cornices and strips of coloured marble, decorated with marble basreliefs of classical subjects and with an extremely elegant row of windows opening onto a wide balcony.