Venetian School, 19th century, View of St. Mark's Square – View of St. Mark's Basin

Venetian school, 19th century

View of St. Mark's Square – View of St. Mark's Basin

(2) Gouache on paper, 18 x 24,5 cm

With frame, 27,5 x 36 cm

While Vedutism reached its peak in the eighteenth century with masters such as Canaletto, Bellotto and Guardi, the nineteenth century saw an evolution and persistent influence of this pictorial genre in Venice. The depiction of iconic views and famous monuments continued to be a popular subject among artists, fueling fascination with the city among collectors and travellers. The suggestive and melancholic atmosphere typical of the lagoon intensified in the nineteenth century, influenced by the artistic ideals of the romantic movement: the nineteenth-century landscape artists emphasized, in fact, the emotional and poetic aspect of the city, capturing the fleeting atmospheric effects and the radiant plays of light of the dawn or dusk dusk.

The use of new pictorial techniques, such as watercolour, gouache and stain painting, allowed the visual impressions and atmosphere of the lagoon city to be immediately translated.

The two views in question, a pair of gouaches on paper depicting Piazza San Marco and the Basin of San Marco respectively, can be referred to the Venetian school of the 1758th century, in all probability to an artist who looked to the great 1839th century Venetian landscape artists: Vincenzo Chilone ( Venice, 1802 – 1878), trained from the age of twenty in the workshop of Francesco Battaglioli, famous for his topographical precision and lively depiction of daily life in Venice; Carlo Grubacs (Venice 1824 – 1887), who attended the School of Fine Arts in Venice under the guidance of Teodoro Matteini, participating in numerous exhibitions. Epigon of nineteenth-century Venetian landscape painting, he created compositions with subtle colors in the skies and backgrounds, always maintaining the use of rigidly perspective shots similar to theatrical wings; Luigi Querena (Venice, XNUMX – XNUMX), whose paintings, capable of capturing the beauty of the Italian landscape in an accurate and evocative way, had a high degree of popularity due to their high historical value: they documented, in fact, the appearance of the 'Italy before the country was unified.

Even today, nineteenth-century Venetian views are appreciated for their artistic and historical value. Preserved in museums and private collections, they offer a precious testimony of the city of Venice in the nineteenth century, capturing the atmosphere, the light and the urban changes of that period.

The nineteenth-century Vedutismo also contributed to consolidating the image of Venice as a romantic and evocative city. Its views inspired writers, musicians and artists of later eras, fueling the timeless charm of this unique city in the world.