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Panorama of Venice from the Bacino di San Marco, Including the Project for the Proposed Teatro Manin

ca. 1788–93
Not on view
This large panorama bearing a dedication to Ludovico Manin, the last Doge of Venice, was probably intended for engraving, a fact which explains its relatively high degree of finish. The drawing was likely intended to mark the initiation of a theater (inserted at left center) in honor of the Doge. As history would have it, Teatro Manin was never built, and Ludovico Manin fared no better. On May 12, 1797, he surrendered the government of the Venetian Republic to the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte, ending a millennium of republican independence.
On either side of the dedication tablet bearing the Doge’s coat of arms Guardi offers a key to the buildings with corresponding numbers in the drawing. Topographic exactitude was important in this instance as a context for the prominently sited theater to come.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Panorama of Venice from the Bacino di San Marco, Including the Project for the Proposed Teatro Manin
  • Artist: Francesco Guardi (Italian, Venice 1712–1793 Venice)
  • Date: ca. 1788–93
  • Medium: Pen and brown ink, gray wash, and a little body color
  • Dimensions: 18 11/16 x 34 13/16 in. (47.5 x 88.5 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.341
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Caneletto-style frame, Italian , Veneto, Poplar, Italian, Veneto
Caneletto-style frame
Italian
mid-18th century
Capriccio with Roman Ruins, Francesco Guardi Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over graphite; framing lines in pen and brown ink drawn by the artist; sheet glued onto secondary paper support
Capriccio with Roman Ruins
Francesco Guardi
18th century
The Arcade of the Libreria, Looking Toward San Giorgio Maggiore, Francesco Guardi Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash
The Arcade of the Libreria, Looking Toward San Giorgio Maggiore
Francesco Guardi
1712–93
Lagoon Capriccio with an Obelisk, Francesco Guardi Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash, over black chalk
Lagoon Capriccio with an Obelisk
Francesco Guardi
ca. 1750–70
View of Piazza with Basilica of San Marco, Francesco Guardi Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash. Framing lines in pen and brown ink at left and right margins. Pricked for transfer
View of Piazza with Basilica of San Marco
Francesco Guardi
1712–93

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