View of Sant'Elena and San Nicolò di Lido on Ascension Day, Venice

Throughout the foreground Tironi has carefully depicted a diverse variety of vessels that form the flotilla surrounding the Doge’s Bucintoro. The occasion is that of the Sposalizio del Mare, an annual celebration that takes place on Ascension Day, during which the Doge would drop a consecrated ring into the lagoon, thus symbolically wedding the Venetian Republic to the sea and confirming the maritime prowess of La Serenissima.