Arrival of the English Ambassadors (detail)

To the right of the elaborate candelabrum, with marble and bright metal decorations, a sophisticated ornamentation that is reminiscent of the work of Ferrarese artists, the English ambassadors are received by King Maurus; they are portrayed in attitudes of deference and respect, in keeping with the rigid protocol governing public audiences granted by the Venetian Republican institutions at the time. The King sits, like the Doge, amidst his counsellors on a judgment seat against a wall covered in precious ornamented leather hangings, placed at an angle to the light and opening out onto a view of the city dominated by a round domed temple-like construction, reminiscent of Perugino and almost anticipating Baldassarre Longhena’s Santa Maria della Salute.