was supervised by Marco Antonio Memmo, the sovraprovveditore (overseer of the provveditore) of the Arsenale. The new vessel was approved and praised by all on its maiden voyage to the Lido with the newly elected Doge Leonardo Donato on Ascension Day, 10 May 1606. The third barge was modelled after its predecessors, its decorations influenced by late-Renaissance forms. Contemporary illustrations show that the sides of the bucentaur were covered by mythical figures of sirens riding seahorses, and that the loggias were supported by curved dolphins amongst intertwined garlands and scrollwork taking on the form of monstrous hydras extending from the ends of the two bow spurs. It was once believed that most of the wooden sculptures, including a large sculpture of Mars, two lions of St. Mark positioned on either side of the stern, and the figurehead of Justice (dressed in apparel made by the San Daniele Monastery), were the work of the renowned Venetian sculptor Alessandro Vittoria, but research has revealed the names of the brothers Agostino and Marcantonio Vanini of Bassano who were praised as "authors of carvings of marvellous beauty". After more than a century of service, in 1719 a decision was made to demolish the ship. The 1727 bucentaur The last and most magnificent of the historic bucentaurs was commissioned by the Senate in 1719, and the construction of it began in the Arsenale in 1722. The ship was designed by Michele Stefano Conti, the protomagistro dei marangoni (head master of the ships' carpenters). Wooden sculpting work was assigned to Antonio Corradini, as was testified by the phrase "Antonii Coradini sculptoris Inventum" ("invention of the sculptor Antonio Corradini") inscribed near the bow palmette. He was an established sculptor, having already worked on commissions in Austria, Bohemia and Saxony. The gilding, in pure gold leaf, was handled by one Zuanne D'Adamo. Some of the 1606 ship's ornaments and sculptures, including the sculpture of Mars and the two lions of St. Mark, were salvaged and reused. The vessel was long and more than high. A two-deck floating palace, its main salon was covered in red velvet, had 48 windows set in a huge, elaborately carved baldacchino or canopy, and had a seating capacity of 90. The doge's throne was in the stern, and the prow bore the traditional figurehead representing Justice with sword and scales. The barge was propelled by 168 oarsmen rowing in teams of four on