Existing comment:
Francesco Guardi
Piazza San Mareo, between 1775-85
Two artists dominated the Venetian specialty of cityscapes in the 18th century. The first, Antonio Canaletto, was known for his adherence to the principles of scientific perspective. His exact views of the spectacular signs of this unusual city constructed on water won his European fame and patronage. His rival Francesco Guardi was very different. He painted for a mainly local clientele depicting not only great public buildings as shown here, but also gloomy and mysterious backwaters. Though Guardi may have studied with Canaletto, his disdained precision in favor of fantasy.
The fanciful aspect of Guardi's work is perfectly exemplified by this glistening and seductive vision of the Piazza San Marco, the public square dominated by the Doge's Palace and government officers as well as the Basilica di San Marco, so called because it housed bones reputed to be those of St. Mark. Because of both its size and symbolic importance, Guardi should logically have depicted this church as if much closer to the viewer. However, he has exaggerated the depth of the piazza, and perversely covered most of its elongated pavement with a huge shadow falling from the building at left.
The attractive and finely dressed citizens strolling in the square are all shown as different scales, and the whole glorious ensemble seems but a footnote to the silvery Venetian sky, which takes up most of the painting's upper half. What a delicious riposte to what Guardi must have considered an earthbound tradition of depicting reality -- why paint just what see when the imagination offers so much more food for creative fancy? |