The bucentaur was the ceremonial barge of the doges of Venice. It was used every year on Ascension Day up to 1798 to take the doge out to the Adriatic Sea to perform the "Marriage of the Sea" – a ceremony that symbolically wedded Venice to the sea.
The Doge on the Bucintoro near the Riva di Sant'Elena (c. 1766–70) by Francesco Guardi
An anonymous miniature, Sbarco dal Bucintoro del doge Sebastiano Ziani al Convento della Carità (The Doge Sebastiano Ziani Disembarking from the Bucentaur for the Convent of Charity, 16th century)
Sebastian Vrancx's Trionfo sul Bucintoro in Bacino San Marco di Morosina Morosini Grimani (The Triumphal Entry of Morosina Morosini-Grimani on the Bucentaur into St. Mark's Basin, 17th century)
A bucentaur, from the Folger Shakespeare Library's copy of Giacomo Franco's Habiti d'hvomeni et donne venetiane (Dress of Venetian Men and Ladies, 1609?)
A pleasure barge is a flat-bottomed, slow-moving boat used for leisure. It is contrasted with a standard barge, which is used to transport freight. Many places where canals or rivers play a prominent role have developed pleasure barges for conducting religious ceremonies, holding waterborne festivities, or viewing scenery.
Shallop for ceremonial use on the River Thames at Kingston upon Thames
