Museo Storico Navale di Venezia

This guide to the Museo Storico Navale in Venice tells the story of the Bucintoro, the doge's ceremonial barge, gilded and rowed by dozens of oarsmen through the lagoon each Ascension Day so he could drop a gold ring into the sea and marry Venice to it. It follows the ship from its 1727 launch to the arrival of Napoleon's troops in 1797. Look closely at the model on display and picture the red velvet canopy and trumpets that once accompanied it.