Santa Maria della Salute

Francesco Guardi

Oil on canvas

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Guardi's loose, flickering brushwork conjures Venice's great domed basilica glowing against a dramatic, cloud-streaked sky, its baroque curves and scrolls rendered in quick, luminous touches rather than precise detail. Gondolas and sailboats glide across the lagoon in the foreground, their tiny figures animated by dabs of color that capture the bustle of daily Venetian life. As one of the most celebrated vedutisti of 18th-century Venice, Guardi brought an impressionistic, almost proto-Impressionist sensibility to the city's familiar landmarks, favoring atmosphere and movement over the architectural precision of his rival Canaletto. This shimmering view would bring the romance of Venice's golden light and watery grandeur into any room.