This splendid veduta called "Il Molo" (which can be translated as the pier) is taken from a point in the heart of the San Marco Basin. This is one of the most reproduced subjects by the Venetian master Antonio Canaletto. Under the eyes of the observer unfolds the most significant part of the Serenissima, with the parade of prestigious palaces that constitute the symbol of the central power of the state.
Starting from the left, la Zecca (La Monnaie Hotel), followed by the Librairia Marciana (library now open to professionals from around the world and home to nearly a million books, 13,000 manuscripts and more than 2800 incunabula) dominated by the campanile, then the two columns of the Piazzetta with San Teodoro killing a dragon (first patron saint of Venice under the Byzantine Empire dethroned by St. Mark in the 9th century) and the famous Lion, the Clock Tower and the Basilica of San Marco in the background, the Doge's Palace (residence of the Doges and seat of power of the Republic of Venice) and the Prisons.
The first version of this veduta is the famous painting "The Return of the Bucintoro of San Nicolò di Lido to the Feast of Ascension" from a series of fourteen views commissioned by Joseph Smith delivered in 1734 and now preserved at the Palace of Windsor.
While paying homage to the Venetian master, our painter shows an inspired personal invoice. With a bold touch, he tries to free himself from the constraints of architecture. With a fatter material and a decidedly warm range, his work is an invitation to discover the Serenissime in the summer sun.
Sold with two certificates of expertise.
Dimensions: 52 x 83 cm the view - 69 x 100 cm with the frame
The work is presented in a beautiful Venetian frame of the 18th century called Canaletto frame.