Francesco Guardi, 'Venice: The Punta della Dogana', 1780s
About the work
Overview
This scene shows the Dogana da Mar (Customs House), which was built in about 1677, and the entrance to the Grand Canal. Over the gateway to the canal is a golden globe with a weather vane in the shape of Fortune, personified as the mistress of the sea. With almost no land, Venice depended on maritime trade for its existence, and Fortune’s billowing sail indicates that the winds of fortune are inconstant. A little further back, boats arrive at the harbour and sailors unload cargo and pay customs charges to enter the city’s waterways.
Guardi has captured movement with animated brushwork – the hardworking merchants and fishermen are made up of skilful flicks of thickly applied paint – and used thinner layers of paint to capture the effects of changing light on the water. Buildings and masts, described using rough black lines, seem to pierce the light, cloudy sky.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Venice: The Punta della Dogana
- Artist
- Francesco Guardi
- Artist dates
- 1712 - 1793
- Part of the series
- Two Views of Venice
- Date made
- 1780s
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 18.7 × 23.8 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bequeathed by Mrs Elizabeth Carstairs, 1952
- Inventory number
- NG6156
- Location
- Room 33
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 19th-century French Frame
Provenance
Additional information
This painting is included in a list of works with incomplete provenance from 1933–1945; for more information see Whereabouts of paintings 1933–1945.
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Michael Levey, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1955The National Gallery, The National Gallery: 1938 - 1954, London 1955
-
1956Levey, Michael, National Gallery Catalogues: The Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1956
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1971M. Levey, The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1971
-
1986Levey, Michael, National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1986
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1991M. Trudzinski and B. Schälicke, Venedigs Ruhm im Norden: Die Grossen Venezianischen Maler des 18. Jahrhunderts ihre Auftraggeber und ihre Sammler (exh. cat. Forum des Landesmuseums, 3 December 1991 - 2 February 1992; Kunstmuseum im Ehrenhof, 16 February - 26 April 1992), Hannover 1991
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
About the series: Two Views of Venice
Overview
Venice: The Punta della Dogana and Venice: The Guidecca with the Zitelle were painted as a pair and intended to be hung together. They show views of where the Venetian Lagoon meets the mouth of the Grand Canal on the east side of Venice (the island of Guidecca is even visible on the far left of The Punta della Dogana). In both paintings, Guardi used a soft, light touch and cool lighting to depict the buildings, summery sky and transparent water.
The small scale of these works, which are slightly smaller that an A4 piece of paper, would have made them easy to carry and transport. This may tell us about who bought such pictures, most likely tourists on their journey around Europe.
Works in the series
More works by Francesco Guardi
