Vittore Carpaccio
Leave-Taking of the Betrothed Pair

The reproduction measures over 3.50 metres in width. And is almost 1.70 metres high. 

The reproduction shows the action in three scenes in the foreground, as in a theatre play. The detailed background is a bay, bordered on the left by a mountain with castles and on the right by a cityscape. More than a hundred people populate the castles and town, and several ships and boats are moored in the bay. 

On the left in the foreground, men in colourful robes crowd together on a narrow promontory. At their head, the blond, long-haired Prince Aetherius kneels before his father. Both are wearing blue tunics with red hems and capes. The son holds his headdress in his left hand, the right one he has given his father as a farewell. Aetherius looks up at him. 

A flagpole separates this scene from the action on the right. It rises into a light blue sky with scattered large white-grey clouds. The base of the pole is made of marble. Carpaccio's signature is attached to it. To the right of the pedestal stands Aetherius in a full boat. He is now wearing tight-fitting leggings with a short black and white patterned jacket. The prince holds out his hand to Ursula as a sign of their engagement. She stands at the end of a gangplank and gathers her long red dress with black and white sleeves with her other hand. Behind Ursula stands a woman in a pink dress and green cloak. A white veil covers her hair. The woman looks over her shoulder at the footbridge behind her.

Her gaze leads the viewer to the third scene on the far right, in which the betrothed couple, Aetherius and Ursula, kneel on a footbridge in front of King Maurus to take their leave. The prince is dressed in a flowing red robe, Ursula in a gold-interwoven dress with blue sleeves. She has reached out her hand to her father. He has leant forward and is stroking his daughter's loose hair with his free hand. Behind him stands Ursula's mother Daria, the queen. She is wearing a short-sleeved blue dress with a silver-coloured cross on one sleeve and a white veil covering her hair. She is wiping her right cheek with a white cloth.

Fair Ursula and the English prince Aetherius meet here for the first time. On the left-hand side of the picture, blond, curly-haired Aetherius bids farewell to his father, kneeling before him and taking his hand. On the far left in the foreground, there's a group of men watching the scene. The man on the right of that group looks directly at us, while his neighbour points at the farewell scene.

On the right of the flagpole, the story continues: Aetherius and Ursula meet and reverently shake hands. They're now betrothed. However, devout Ursula has laid down sweeping conditions. Aetherius is to convert to Christianity. And the couple are to set off on a pilgrimage to Rome with a retinue of eleven thousand virgins.

So Ursula must take her leave. On the far right, the betrothed couple kneel before Ursula's father, while her mother wipes away tears. In the background, people are queuing to be ferried out to the waiting ships. The engaged couple appear once again on the jetty.

The nine paintings in the Saint Ursula Cycle were commissioned by the lay confraternity Scuola di Sant'Orsola for their assembly hall in Venice. We're showing a scaled down reconstruction of the original hanging of the scenes here in our exhibition spaces.

Carpaccio was a little over twenty when he received this major commission from the lay brothers on the 16th of November 1488. He completed the last of the nine paintings in 1500. They were among the first works Carpaccio signed with his own name, and he did so in a very special way. On each of the paintings, you'll discover a very realistically rendered piece of paper, hanging or lying around somewhere as if by accident. It's what's known as a cartellino, and it bears a Latin signature and the date. In this scene, it reads: VICTORIS CARPATIO VENETI OPUS 1495.

Have you spotted the cartellino yet?

The English prince has blond curls and is called Aetherius . You can see him on the left of the picture. He says goodbye to his father by kneeling down in front of him and shaking his hand. On the left in front, a group of men are watching the farewell, one of them is looking directly at us and his neighbor is pointing his finger at the farewell scene.

To the right of the flagpole you can see the first meeting of Aetherius and Ursula. The two shake hands, a sign that they are now engaged. But Ursula has set comprehensive conditions for the wedding: Aetherius is to become a Christian and go on a pilgrimage to Rome with her and 11,000 virgins.

Ursula's parents are not coming on this pilgrimage. Therefore, Ursula has to say goodbye: On the far right, the engaged couple are kneeling in front of Ursula's father, her mother is wiping tears from her face. The pilgrimage begins with the ship and the departure is already being prepared. In the background, many people are being taken to the ships in small boats. The engaged couple are also waiting for a boat on the jetty.

The story of Ursula is told in nine pictures. The lay brotherhood Scuola di Sant'Orsola commissioned Carpaccio to create the pictures. A lay brotherhood is a community of lay people, that is, of church members who are not priests. The pictures hung in the lay brotherhood's meeting room in Venice.

In November 1488, Carpaccio, who was twenty years old at the time, received the big commission. It was finished in 1500. Carpaccio came up with a special way of signing the pictures. On each picture you will find a small, realistically painted piece of paper, which seems to be hanging or lying around somewhere. This small piece of paper is called a cartellino, the Italian word for "little piece of paper". On the piece of paper, Carpaccio's name and the year in which he painted the picture are written in Latin.

Have you spotted the cartellino yet?