Venetian School, 19th century, View of Venice with the Doge's Palace and the horizon of the Venetian Lagoon

Venetian school, 19th century

View of Venice with the Doge's Palace and the horizon of the Venetian Lagoon

Oil on canvas, 78 x 101 cm

With frame, 100 x 122 cm

The unusual perspective chosen by the artist for the present Venetian view, raised from a bird's eye view, allows the painting to be separated from the well-established tradition of Venetian landscape painting. The scenery returned by the painter, which allows us to appreciate the jewels of the lagoon, including the basin and mainland with San Giuliano and Porto Marghera, is also justifiable by the chronological height of the painting, from the early 19th century.

The bird's eye perspective suggests a shot from above on the opposite pier in front of the church of S. Giorgio Maggiore. For the present painting, considering the moment of composition, and given the extraordinary correctness of each monument, one might wonder if the artist did not know the Venetian topography perfectly, or if he did not observe everything, with an optical instrument, from a mezzanine floor also of the monastic complex of S. Giorgio. Beyond the glassy sea with the line of Rio dei Mercanti, the Ponte della Paglia on the right, the romanticized Bridge of Sighs hidden in the shadow of the canal, and the immediately recognizable Palazzo Ducale and Palazzo delle Prigioni it is in fact possible to see, beyond the domes of S. Marco, in perfect alignment: the bell tower of the church of the Ss. Apostoli in the Cannaregio district, the building of the Scuola Grande della Misericordia and immediately behind it the bell tower of the church of the Madonna dell'Orto. Scrolling the horizon to the left, you can also recognize the bell tower of the church of S. Bartolomeo di Rialto, opposite the Rialto Bridge.

Around the cheerfully populated Piazzetta San Marco, there are the well-known Venetian preciousnesses: in the foreground the columns of San Tòdaro (Theodore of Amasea, Byzantine) and of San Marco; on the left, the Sansoviniana Library. It is then the turn of the Bell Tower with the precious loggia by Sansovino, the Procuratie Vecchie and the beginning of the Clock Tower attached to them.

The soft streaks of the sky, in pastel colours, increase the exceptional charm of this unique perspective.