The Grand Canal, Venice
c. 1760
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
73 × 119.4 cm (28 3/4 × 47 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
111074
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Although he did not begin to paint views (vedute) until he was in his mid-40s, Francesco Guardi soon became an accomplished practitioner in the genre. He was strongly influenced by the precisely rendered Venetian scenes of Canaletto and Michele Marieschi. In this work, one of his most important early cityscapes, Guardi depicted the mouth of the Grand Canal hustling with late-afternoon activity. The church of Santa Maria della Salute and the customhouse are visible on the right. The emotional ten...
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...