Jacopo Negretti, known as Palma "il Giovane" to distinguish him from his great uncle Palma "il Vecchio," spent his formative years at the court of Urbino and in Rome, where he was influenced by Taddeo Zuccaro (1529-1566) and Federico Zuccaro (1540/41-1609). He returned to Venice around 1573 where, following the fire at the Palazzo Ducale in 1577, he received his first public commission: three ceiling canvases for the Sala del Maggior Consiglio, the largest of which depicts Venice Crowned by Victory (c. 1578). He subsequently went on to execute various other large-scale paintings in the Palazzo Ducale. Among his finest works are two picture cycles: a Eucharistic cycle in the sacristy of S. Giacomo dall'Orio (1581), and an historical cycle to decorate the oratory of the Crociferi (1583-1592). By this time Palma had acquired a Venetian technique of painting that was particularly indebted to Tintoretto (1519-1594). Following the latter's death in 1594, he was the leading and most esteemed artist in the city; he was also immensely productive and secured numerous commissions outside Venice (Turner, N.: From Michelangelo to Annibale Carracci. A century of Italian drawings from the Prado, Art Services International-Museo Nacional del Prado, 2008, p. 150).