The Grand Canal by Francesco Guardi

In the galleries of the Art Institute of Chicago hangs "The Grand Canal" by Francesco Guardi. This painting is a lovely landscape of the churches and buildings around the Grand Canal in Venice.

Immediately upon looking at this wonderful work you are struck by the activity in it. On the right side of the painting near the stairs of the church are people gather and talking or entering the structure. To the left side of the painting you see the canal filled with boats and gondolas all of which have people on-board.

Institute Of Art

Guardi uses the technique of one-point perspective to draw the viewer into the painting, if you look at the landing on the right side of the painting that leads to the church you will notice that a line is formed that points to the center of the painting at the horizon. Further to the right the top of the buildings in the background form a line that also meets at the same point on the horizon, this same line can also be detected on the edges of the decorative trim and molding on the church, these are more difficult to denote because there is not a long line to assist your eye see the angle.

The dome of the church is not executed correctly in terms of perspective for the base of the dome curves too much and should be a thinner parabola than what is rendered here, however, the technical precision is not what the painting is about, the painting is about the Grand Canal and the abundance of life there. Guardi has gone into great detail to bring out the feeling of the site, the details are remarkable in that they are not sterile drafting renderings of architectural design, rather, this is a work of art that is able of infuse the beauty of the architecture with the people in the surroundings. Everyone is well dress and in good spirits.

There are many boats and sea worthy vessels in the Grand Canal and Guardi has done a masterful job of detail so well the figures and structures of the boats. In the background along the horizon you can see a number of large churches and public buildings. The detail, however, is in the smaller structures, which Guardi is very much interested in.

This work bears all the fruit of the Italian Baroque style and is a pleasure to spend time with.

Stephen F. Condren - Artist

The Grand Canal by Francesco Guardi