Portia in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice changed her character after she married Bassanio, a noble Venetian merchant who believes in friendship. She works as a capacity of truly faithful helpmate to her husband to play a role of go-between the two different world, Gemainschaft and Gesellschaft.
VIVARINI, BartolomeoMadonna della Misericordia1473Tempera on panel, 146 x 71 cmSanta Maria Formosa, Venice
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Allegory of the Scuola della Misericordia
c. 1564Oil on canvas, 90 x 190 cmScuola Grande di San Rocco, VeniceAmong the sixteen allegories around the central painting on the ceiling of the Sala dell'Albergo are five allegorical figures of the Scoule Grandi of Venice. These and the other allegorical figures of the Cardinal Virtues are portrayed in forced and artificial poses and attitudes of truly Mannerist origin. They were particularly studied by Tintoretto in preliminary drawings.
In the Allegory of the Scuola della Misericordia, the Virgin, who has inserted on her breast a medallion showing the Child Jesus, stretches out her arms drawing the brothers close to her.