The Fenice Theater in Venice (recto); Fragment of a Larger Drawing Representing Part of a Column and a Cornice (verso)
1712–1835
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush with brown and gray wash over traces of black chalk (recto); pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash (verso)
Dimensions
7 15/16 x 10 1/8in. (20.1 x 25.7cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1937
Accession Number
37.165.73
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite double-sided drawing captures the grandeur of Venice's Teatro La Fenice on the recto, rendered by either Francesco Guardi (17121793) or his son Giacomo (1764–1835), masters of the Venetian veduta. Francesco, a leading figure in 18th-century Venetian art, specialized in luminous cityscapes blending precise architecture with atmospheric effects, while Giacomo continued this legacy. Here, the Fenice—Venice's premier opera house, inaugurated in 1792—emerges in intricate detail, complete with human figures animating the bustling square, evoking the city's vibrant theatrical life amid...
About the Artist
Francesco Guardi|Giacomo Guardi · 1712–1793
Francesco Lazzaro Guardi (1712–1793) was born into a noble family of painters from Trentino who had settled in Venice. His father, Domenico Guardi, a minor painter trained in Vienna, died in 1716, leaving young Francesco to inherit the family workshop alongside his brothers Giovanni Antonio (Gian Antonio) and Niccolò, both artists, and sister Maria Cecilia, who married the renowned Giovanni Battis...