Monks Buying Fish before the Portal of the Madonna della Misericordia
Medium
watercolor and gouache over graphite on wove paper, touched with gum arabic
Dimensions
overall: 46.5 × 33 cm (18 5/16 × 13 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Alexander M. and Judith W. Laughlin Fund
Accession Number
2005.148.1
Art Historical Context
**Monks Buying Fish before the Portal of the Madonna Misericordia** (1855) by Austrian artist Ludwig Johann Passini captures a vivid slice of Venetian daily life. Passini, known for his genre scenes of Italy during the mid-19th century, Franciscan monks negotiating with fishmongers at the grand portal the Scuola Grande della Miserordia, a historic confr headquarters in Venice. This reflects the city's bustling markets and the interplay between religious orders and local commerce, evoking the Romantic fascination with everyday authenticity amid Renaissance architecture. Rendered in watercolor ...