The Island of the Beata Vergine delle Grazie
ca. 1804–28
Medium
Pen and brown ink, gray wash
Dimensions
4 1/2 x 7 3/16 in. (11.5 x 18.3 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.361
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate drawing by Giacomo Guardi captures a tranquil view of the Island of the Beata Vergine delle Grazie, a small Venetian lagoon site centered around its namesake church and monastery. Created between 1804 and 1828, the work belongs to the long tradition of Venetian vedute, or topographical views, that Guardi inherited from his father, Francesco Guardi. Though smaller in scale than the grand canvases of earlier generations, it reflects the enduring fascination with Venice’s scattered islands and waterways during the final decades of the Republic and the early years of Austrian rule. ...
About the Artist
Giacomo Guardi · 1764–1835
Giacomo Guardi (1764–1835) was a Venetian painter who worked in the long shadow of his celebrated father, Francesco Guardi, one of the greatest vedutisti — view painters — of the eighteenth century. Born into one of Venice's most prominent artistic families, Giacomo received his training directly from his father, absorbing both the technical methods and the characteristic style that had made Franc...