Francesco Guardi, 'Venice: The Doge's Palace and the Molo', about 1770
Two Views of Venice
Venice: The Doge’s Palace and the Molo from the Basin of San Marco and its companion picture Venice: The Punta della Dogana with S. Maria della Salute were intended to be hung together. Paintings like these were a reminder of Venice’s impressive architecture and bustling atmosphere, and fulfilled a taste for poetic views of the city among locals and foreign collectors.
Guardi shows Venice here as a prosperous city, although by the second half of the eighteenth century the Venetian Republic’s control of the Mediterranean sea trade was growing weaker. For centuries its maritime power had been unrivalled, its economic growth achieved by receiving goods from the east by sea and selling them in the growing European market.
By the 1770s, when these paintings were probably made, Guardi had moved away from the influence of the famed Venetian artist Canaletto in terms of technique. He continued to paint similar parts of the city, but with a more free-handed approach and a particular interest in atmospheric effects.
Paintings like Venice: The Doge’s Palace and the Molo from the Basin of San Marco and its pendant Venice: The Punta della Dogana with S. Maria della Salute by Guardi fulfilled a taste for poetic views of Venice among locals and foreign collectors on the Grand Tour around Europe. His customers could own a snapshot of their favourite area of Venice, or be reminded of the city’s impressive architecture and bustling atmosphere.
Guardi, along with Canaletto and Bernardo Bellotto, show Venice as a prosperous city, although by the second half of the eighteenth century the Venetian Republic’s control of the Mediterranean sea trade was growing weaker. Venice held a strategic position on the edge of the Adriatic, the sea between Italy’s eastern coast and Dalmatia (modern-day Croatia). For centuries, its maritime power had been unrivalled, its economic growth achieved by receiving goods – sugar cane, spices, textiles and jewellery – from the east by sea and selling them in the growing European market. Venice created an empire with ports, colonies and trading posts ranging from the Black Sea to Egypt.
By the 1770s, when these paintings were probably made, Guardi continued to paint similar parts of the city but had moved far away from Canaletto’s influence in terms of technique – from the highly finished appearance of the latter’s work to a more free-handed approach. Both views can be seen in Canaletto’s picture of The Basin of San Marco on Ascension Day, but Guardi depicted scenes of everyday life rather than ceremonial occasions.
Guardi was the last of the great Venetian view painters. His influence on nineteenth-century artists is particularly noticeable in the work of Turner, who visited Venice on three occasions during his career. He seems to have enjoyed painting the same locations as the ones we see here but from different viewpoints, for example, his view of Venice - Maria della Salute and Venice Quay, Ducal Palace (Tate Britain, London), both exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1844.
More paintings by Francesco Guardi
