Description
Bears a typewritten label on the reverse, oil on canvas
Dimensions
67.5cm x 105.5cm (30.5in x 41.5in)
Footnote
Provenance: the Brenchley Family, Glaneirw House, Blaenporth, Cardigan
Note: Venice has captured the hearts and imaginations of Europe and the rest of the world for centuries. Once referred to as the 'drawing room of Europe,' the central square, Piazza San Marco was the social, religious and political centre of the city. By the eighteenth century, and the time of this painting, Venice's political and economic power was declining, but its popularity as a travel destination was already established. It particularly attracted the young, wealthy British men completing their gentlemanly cultural education on a 'Grand Tour,' who were to drawn as much to its beauty and antiquity as to its reputation for decadence.
A key feature of the Grand Tour was the purchase of souvenirs to be shipped back to their British homes as cultural mementoes and evidence of their advanced education. The popularity of these purchases created a ready market for scenes of the city's famous monuments and vistas. A number of artists created capricci, fantasy scenes which grouped real and fictional landmarks and created dramatic, if slightly inaccurate vistas to further their compositional wishes, while others created the more topographically accurate vedute.
In this skilfully handled capriccio, the artist depicts a fantastic vision of Piazza San Marco, with a focus on a dramatic and sweeping view from a raised point, replacing the basilica itself with a canal. This perspective creates an expansive feeling and shows the particular influence of Michele Marieschi, who had a very short but successful career as a painter and engraver, and was known for his views of Venice, publishing a set of 21 prints of the city, as well as his oil paintings.