Rialto Bridge, Venice
c. 1770/1800
Medium
oil on wood
Dimensions
overall: 19.1 x 30.3 cm (7 1/2 x 11 15/16 in.) framed: 34.6 x 45.7 x 6 cm (13 5/8 x 18 x 2 3/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CIS-B
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of R. Horace Gallatin
Accession Number
1949.1.6
Art Historical Context
This charming small-scale painting the iconic Rialto Bridge spanning’s Grand Canal, rendered the lively manner of Guardi. Although created by unidentified follower working between1770 and 180, the work reflects’s signature approach to Venetian—light-filled skies, animated figures, and a sense of bustling daily life along the waterway. Such scenes were especially popular with eighteenth-century travelers on the Grand Tour, who often purchased them as elegant souvenirs of their Italian journeys. Painted in oil on wood, the compact format (roughly the size of a large postcard) allowed artists to...