You are currently looking at the main fresco, painted by Mario Sironi in 1936-37 titled “Venice, Italy, and Studies”, “Venezia, l’Italia e gli Studi” in Italian. This artwork is the maximum expression of Fascist art as Sironi was one of the most important Remigme painters.
The fresco aims to provide a visual representation of the correlation between the city of Venice and its university, Ca’ Foscari, and Italy, the Motherland, and therefore the Fascist regime.
The fresco is crowded with figures that are meant to be understood as allegories.
In the left corner, we can recognize a male student holding a book and the symbol of the Fascist University Group.
You can also recognize the allegorical representation of Tecnique, Medicine, Venice sitting on a throne showing us a representation of the facade of Ca’ Foscari Palace and the Motherland.
In the right corner on the bottom you can also recognize a winged lion holding an open book. This is the official iconographic representation of Saint Mark evangelist, patronus of the city. This symbol of the city of Venice and of its ancient Republic has been widely represented through centuries by artists.
Here you can see a 1516 painting by Vettore Carpaccio commissioned by the Most Serene Republic of Venice to be placed inside Palazzo Ducale. The lion is represented with its iconographical attribution in order to let people recognize its important value.
The fresco has been widely damaged by the great fire of 1979 leaving its images covered by black dust.
Before moving your camera to the next augmentation, learn about the busts appearing to the left and right of the inscription here.