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Source Description
This view into a Venetian courtyard shows people engaged in everyday activities, such as a woman washing clothes. The focus of the painting, however, is on the beauty of the decaying architecture and the rich tonal variations of the shaded walls. Architectural painting of the 18th century typically represented monumental vistas of grand buildings, but, in this work, Guardi has found a different kind of beauty by painting a building from its back side. Guardi's paintings combine a sense of place with a lightness of touch that suggest the potential romance and adventure around every corner. They were particularly popular with British visitors on the Grand Tour, for whom such views served as charming souvenirs.For more information on this painting, please see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue no. 455, pp. 567-568.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
39427
label
A Venetian Courtyard
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
citationUrl
pageCount
2
Source metadata
id
39427
sourceUrl
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
A Venetian Courtyard
description
This view into a Venetian courtyard shows people engaged in everyday activities, such as a woman washing clothes. The focus of the painting, however, is on the beauty of the decaying architecture and the rich tonal variations of the shaded walls. Architectural painting of the 18th century typically represented monumental vistas of grand buildings, but, in this work, Guardi has found a different kind of beauty by painting a building from its back side. Guardi's paintings combine a sense of place with a lightness of touch that suggest the potential romance and adventure around every corner. They were particularly popular with British visitors on the Grand Tour, for whom such views served as charming souvenirs.For more information on this painting, please see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue no. 455, pp. 567-568.
provenance
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1897 catalogue: no. 418]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 1770s (Baroque)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
oil paintings (visual works)
imageCount
2
pageCount
2
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
54.4
height
40.7
dimensionsRaw
Painted surface H: 21 7/16 x W: 16 in. (54.4 x 40.7 cm)
Source extras
cul
Italian
inscriptions
[Transcription] On stretcher in pencil: F. Guardi
med
oil on canvas
creator_ids
2647
collection_ids
BAR
exhibition_ids
2159
2335
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
88aa20d3a9456e98
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
31250eb8a47b552b
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no