Francesco Guardi - Venice: Piazza San Marco [c.1760]

Francesco Guardi - Venice: Piazza San Marco [c.1760], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

The painting is one of the earliest of Guardi's works as a view painter, probably dating from about 1760. It shows the most famous of Venetian squares, the Piazza San Marco, with the medieval cathedral and its bell tower in the background and the 16th-century public offices, the Procuratie Vecchie, left, and the Procuratie Nuove, right, with shops and cafés to each side. In Guardi's painting figures and architecture are more freely handled than was customary with Canaletto, and the crowd that idles in the Piazza is given greater prominence.

[Oil on canvas, 72.4 x 119.1 cm]

Francesco Guardi - View of the Venetian Lagoon with the Tower of Malghera [c.1770s]

Francesco Guardi - View of the Venetian Lagoon with the Tower of Malghera [c.1770s], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Among the most famous later works of Guardi are evocations, almost in the manner of Whistler, of the landscape and atmosphere of his native Venice and its surroundings. The tower of Malghera, a relic of the ancient fortifications of the city and demolished in the early 19th century, lay on the edge of the Venetian lagoon near Mestre. In Guardi's painting nature is more evident than the work of man. The tower and the fishing boats in the foreground form the two focuses of the composition which is principally a study of the water of the lagoon and a clouded Venetian sky.

[Oil on wood, 21.3 x 41.3 cm]

Francesco Guardi - Venice: The Grand Canal with Palazzo Pesaro [c.1775-60]

Francesco Guardi - Venice: The Grand Canal with Palazzo Pesaro [c.1775-60], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

The 17th-century Palazzo Pesaro, designed by Longhena, is depicted in the centre. On the right a funeral boat can be seen before the façade of the church of St. Stae (Sant'Eustachio). The Palazzo Corner della Regina is at the extreme left. The composition is based on an etching by Michiel Marieschi in 'Magnificentiores Selectioresque Urbis Venetiarum Prospectus', 1741. It is tentatively suggested that the painting dates from around 1755-60.

[Oil on canvas, 92.7 x 130.9 cm]

Francesco Guardi - The Punta della Dogana, Venice [1780s]

Francesco Guardi - The Punta della Dogana, Venice [1780s], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

This scene shows the entrance to the Grand Canal with the Dogana da Mar, the Customs House of Venice, built by Benoni about 1677. On top of the gateway is a golden ball, with a weather vane representing Fortune. 

[Oil on canvas, 18.7 x 23.8 cm]