Narrative scene
by COLI, Giovanni, Fresco
The picture shows the central ceiling panel in the Grande Galleria in the Palazzo Colonna. It depicts Marcantonio Colonna and the Sea Battle at Lepanto. The scene belongs to the cycle on the ceiling illustrating decisive events from the military career of Marcantonio II Colonna (1535-1584). In its form and composition the narrative cycle borrows from sixteenth-century Venetian painting, which beginning with Veronese had specialised in depictions on ceilings of historical events viewed from extremely low vantage points.
The cycle is a collective work by Filippo Gherardi and Giovanni Coli, the architecture painting and framing is by Johann Paul Schor and his workshop.