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Venice: The Doge's Palace and the Riva degli Schiavoni

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Beneath a sky of swirling cloud and warm sunlight, we take in a view of the Doge’s Palace, one of the best-known buildings in Venice. It overlooks a promenade known as the Riva degli Schiavoni and the basin of San Marco.

Canaletto has given the scene a sense of tranquillity and calm. In the foreground, we see groups of idle sailors, merchants and foreign visitors, each one observed with great individuality; a little further back, Venetians go about their everyday lives.

We are positioned just above the quayside, so that the watercraft – sailing boats, barges, gondolas, and a colourful fusta (single-masted boat) – fill the right-hand side of the composition. From up close, you can see the varied brushwork Canaletto used to describe different textures and materials, particularly the broken timbers and stone littering the water’s edge, and the white sail on the far right.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Venice: The Doge's Palace and the Riva degli Schiavoni

Date

late 1730s

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 61.3 x W 99.8 cm

Accession number

NG940

Acquisition method

Wynn Ellis Bequest, 1876

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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