The Council of Ten that gives this room its name was set up after a conspiracy in 1310, when Bajamonte Tiepolo and other noblemen tried to overthrow the institutions of the State. Initially meant as a provisional body to try those conspirators, the Council of Ten is one of those many examples of Venetian institutions that were intended to be temporary but ended up becoming permanent. Its authority covered all sectors of public life and this power gave rise to the fame of the Council as a ruthless, all-seeing tribunal at the service of the ruling oligarchy, a court whose sentences were handed down rapidly after hearings held in secret. The assembly was made up of ten members chosen from the Senate and elected by the Great Council. These ten sat in council with the Doge and his six counselors, which accounts for the 17 semicircular outlines that one can still see in the chamber. The decoration of the ceiling was the work of Gian Battista Ponchino, with the assistance of a young Veronese and Gian Battista Zelotti. Carved and gilded, the ceiling is divided into 25 compartments decorated with images of divinities and allegories intended to illustrate the power of the Council of Ten that was responsible for punishing the guilty and freeing the innocent. It is very difficult to interpret each individual compartment because the artists often tend to overlap the traditional interpretation of a mythological event or figure with a reading that is specific to Venice and its history. Veronese’s paintings – from that of the old oriental figure to that showing Juno scattering her gifts on Venice – are particularly famous. The oval painting in the center, depicting Jove descending from the clouds to hurl thunderbolts at Vice, is however a copy of the original Veronese which Napoleon took to the Louvre.
