GUARDI, Francesco
(b. 1712, Venezia, d. 1793, Venezia)

Piazzetta with the Libreria Vecchia

1770-75
Oil on canvas, 63 x 90 cm
Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna

The composition of this painting is traditional, inspired by one of Canaletto's etchings, which Guardi copied a number of times in his earliest vedute. The painting has an unusual feature: X-ray images have revealed in it an earlier composition portraying a religious episode, the Adoration of the Shepherds. This underlying scene was also painted by Francesco Guardi.