Der Fischer überreicht dem Dogen den Ring des hl. Markus (nach Paris Bordone)

This 1873 copy by August Wolf after Paris Bordone's famous painting of a fisherman presenting the Doge with the ring of Saint Mark captures one of the most celebrated narrative paintings in Venetian art. Bordone's original, in the Accademia in Venice, depicts the legendary 9th-century event when a fisherman was given the ring by Saint Mark to present to the Doge as proof of his miraculous protection of Venice during a storm. Wolf's copy, now in the Neue Pinakothek in Munich, brought this major Venetian historical painting to the attention of German audiences and art students who could study its compositional and coloristic strategies.

Wolf reproduces Bordone's distinctive architectural setting, complex figure grouping, and warm Venetian colorism with the careful technique of an experienced copyist. The challenge of the elaborate multi-figure composition within an imposing architectural framework is met with systematic technical control.