Dramatic shafts of sunlight break through the clouds and fall upon shimmering white stone. Turner made many watercolours of the great church of Santa Maria della Salute, a Venetian landmark that stands near the entrance to the Grand Canal. His hotel on his visit in 1840 was across the Grand Canal from the church. This is the only work in which he studies the façade at close quarters. The extravagant columns and architectural details are sketched in red watercolour, but the overall impression is almost of a building dissolving in the intensity of light.