May 7
The Grand Canal in Venice with Palazzo Bembo
Artist: Francesco Guardi (Italian, 1712-1793)
Date: ca. 1768
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Getty Center Museum Collection, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Description
A luminous morning haze bathes Venice's Grand Canal. Guided by oarsmen, gondolas and cargo boats glide through the placid water; their hulls traverse the gentle reflections cast by the surrounding buildings. Masts and vertical pilings punctuate the pale, overcast sky. Buildings of varying shapes and scale--but all sharing a muted palette--extend from edge to edge and deep into the distance. On the right, a few early-risers mill about on the banks of the canal.
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