Venice: Piazza San Marco

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Guardi’s shimmering brushwork gives this picture a magical quality. On the far side of the square, the facade of the Basilica di San Marco glows, while a blaze of sunlight warms the sky behind the Procuratie Vecchie, the offices of the Republic’s administration, to the left.

Although the figures are small, you can still make out all the different kinds of people going about their everyday lives. To the right, a couple in black coats and white masks talk to a man in yellow. In the centre, a man seems to reach for a child’s hand, while two dogs play in the sun nearby. Further back, market sellers stand beside their white tents.

A jagged, diagonal shadow cutting across the square gives liveliness to the composition. Other diagonals – the rooflines of the buildings at each side of the square and the white stone lines on the pavement – accentuate the recession of space.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Venice: Piazza San Marco

Date

after 1780

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 34.9 x W 53.4 cm

Accession number

NG2525

Acquisition method

Salting Bequest, 1910

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

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