The picture shows a typical Venetian terrace, laid out with colored plates and surrounded by perimeter marble rails.
On the opposite bank of the river, according to some researchers – Leta, there are rocky mountains with a lot of caves, a village at the foot of one of the mountains and a castle on its top is a bit strange and mysterious landscape, above all this sky with gentle clouds reflected in the mirror of the water surface.
There are several figures on the terrace. In the corner of the terrace there is a marble throne on which the Virgin sits with his head bowed and hands folded in prayer.
To her left, a woman in a wreath sits with her head bent, to the right, closer to the viewer, another woman, tall, young and slender, wearing a black cloak on her shoulders, similar to the one that Venetians still wear today.
Behind the marble railing were two elder men – the researchers believe that it is most likely the apostles Paul and Peter. In the hands of Paul the sword, the expression on his face is stern and contrasts with the gentle glance of the second apostle, with the emotion of watching the group, located in the center of the terrace.
Here, in a clay vase, a small tree grows, around which four kids play. To them from the other end of the terrace are sent two saints – Job, with prayer folded hands, and a young man, striking his truly divine beauty Sebastian…
For a long time this allegory remained unsolved. However, in recent years, researchers have been able to establish her literary source. Most likely, it was a popular French poem by Guillaume Degillville in the 14th century, “The Wandering of the Soul,” in which the mystic tree symbolized Christ, and the babies playing under it were the souls of purgatory…
Bellini finalized the plot of the poem, depicting the patron saints of the innocent souls of Job and Sebastian, the apostles, the Mother of God, as well as the woman supposedly personifying Justice, who, with the punishing sword in the hands of the apostle Paul, humbly bows his crowned head before the Mother of God…
However, there is still a lot of inexplicable in it. A figure in an oriental turban, a man in bright red robes, a centaur – all these strange creatures seem to be the fruit of the imagination of Bellini.
And the key to his picture is not so much in what is depicted on the canvas, as in the most mysterious atmosphere of this work, whose characters seem to be related to each other, and at the same time, everyone exists by itself. Not for nothing many researchers call the “Sacred Allegory” a dream picture….
Despite the unsolved nature of the plot, the picture gained fame, thanks to its picturesque qualities and the masterfully transferred atmosphere of the city on the water.
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