San Biagio

San Biagio describes a working-class Venetian neighborhood east of the Riva degli Schiavoni. In the foreground, two small boats have been pulled onto the bank and drying laundry is strung overhead. Whistler used these details to establish a range of textures but devoted more attention to establishing a series of visual planes linked by a shadowed passageway. The composition progresses from the half-light of the canal into a dark tunnel and emerges into a brightly lit receding walkway punctuated by tall chimneys. A version of this print was exhibited in 1883 at the Fine Art Society then published in 1886 as part of the "Second Venice Set."