The Porto di Lido, with the Fortezza Sant'Andrea on the Left
ca. 1804–28
Medium
Pen and brown ink, gray wash
Dimensions
4 13/16 x 8 3/8 in. (12.3 x 21.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.351
Tags
Art Historical Context
Giacomo Guardi, son of the renowned Venetian vedutista Francesco, captures the bustling Porto di Lido in this delicate drawing from around 1804–28. The Lido inlet, Venice's vital gateway to the Adriatic Sea features prominently, with the imposing Fortezza Sant'Andrea—a 16th-century Venetian stronghold—rising on the left. Ships and boats dot the waterway, evoking the lagoon city's enduring maritime pulse during a time of political flux after Napoleon's conquest of Venice in 1797. Executed in pen and brown ink with gray wash on a modest 4 13/16 x 8 3/8-inch sheet, this work exemplifies the Guar...
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...