The Piazza San Marco, Venice
About this artwork
The Piazza San Marco is dominated by the Basilica of San Marco with its domes and gleaming mosaics and the campanile (bell tower). Guardi may have used a camera ottica, an optical viewing box in which mirrors reflected the scene outside, to help with the dynamic perspective of the piazza. The buildings on either side are the old and new offices for the Venetian government: the Procuratie Vecchie and Nuove. Guardi used strong shadow and bright light to animate the scene and populated it with a variety of figures described with a few deft brushstrokes.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Francesco Guardi (1712 - 1793) Italian
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title:The Piazza San Marco, Venice
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date created:About 1775 - 1780
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:55.20 x 85.40 cm; Framed: 75.40 x 105.30 x 10.80 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Accepted by HM Government in lieu of tax and allocated to the Scottish National Gallery 1978
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accession number:NG 2370
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gallery:
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subject:
Francesco Guardi
Francesco Guardi
Guardi is famous for his 'vedute' (view paintings of Venice). He was influenced by Canaletto, but did not follow his precise clear style. He introduced a greater feeling for changing light effects and atmosphere into his paintings. Guardi's father, Domenico, and elder brother Gian Antonio were...