MARIESCHI, Michele
(b. 1710, Venezia, d. 1743, Venezia)

The Grand Canal near the Salute

1733-35
Oil on canvas, 125 x 213 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

This impressive view of the entrance to the Grand Canal is dominated by Santa Maria della Salute, built between 1631 and 1687 by Baldassare Longhena in gratitude for the conclusion of the disastrous plague which had struck Venice in 1630. The veduta is taken from the loggia of the monastery of San Gregorio on the corner of the Grand Canal and the Rio della Salute. The Rio separates the monastery from the Campo della Salute and is visible in the foreground on the right. Just beyond the basilica, on the same side of the canal, is the episcopal seminary. Above the adjacent blind wall we see the tower of the Dogana da Mar. On the left side of the canal parts of Palazzo Manolesso and Palazzo Contarini Fasan can just be seen. Further in the background we can spot the Campanile of San Marco. Finally, on the horizon, the buildings of the Riva degli Schiavoni and the Castello area can be descried through the masts of the boats. The water, meanwhile, is dotted with gondolas and cargo boats, one of which is loaded with cases marked 'Roma', 'Vienna:' and 'M:S:', the last possibly Marieschi's signature. The vessels, such as the boat with the lateen sail at the quay, are closely observed.

The mast of the boat with the lateen sail divides the scene in two equal halves, while the long, crooked yard and the quay wall, arranged almost perpendicular to the picture plane, serve to balance the composition. The veduta spans a wide angle, roughly one hunderd fifty degrees. Two vanishing points, one on the extension of the quay line and the other outside the image to the right, make the corner which closed off the Campo della Salute sharper than it is. Besides this deformation, as it were, of the square, it is remarkable how the lowest part of the church seems to move toward the spectator whereas the large dome withdraws. The effect resembles that of a fish-eye lens; Marieschi may have used a camera obscura in making this painting.

It is precisely the uncorrected deformations in this spectacular composition that distinguish it from Canaletto's treatment of the same motif. Marieschi's older colleague gives us a considerably more peaceful, more balanced view (Royal Collection, Windsor).




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.