The Fire at San Marcuola (recto); Roman Ruins (verso)
1712–93
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over black chalk (recto); framing lines in pen and brown ink Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over black chalk; framing lines in pen and brown ink at the left, top and bottom border in graphite at the right border (verso)
Dimensions
12-5/16 x 17-13/16 in. (31.2 x 45.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1937
Accession Number
37.165.74
Tags
Art Historical Context
Visitors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's and Prints department will delight in *The Fire San Marcuola (o); Roman Ruinsverso)*, a double-sided sheet by Francesco (1712–179), the celebrated Venetian artist of the late Rococo and early Neoclassical periods. On the recto, Guardi captures the drama of a fire engulfing the San Marcuola church in Venice, alive with swirling crowds, billowing smoke, and teetering buildings—a vivid snapshot of urban peril in the canal city, where wooden structures made such bl all too common. The verso shifts to fantastical Roman ruins, evoking the Grand Tour-era f...
About the Artist
Francesco 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...