Canal and Bridge of SS. Apostoli, Venice

Sir Muirhead Bone was a Scottish printmaker and watercolor artist noted for his depictions of architectural subjects, city views, landscapes, and his work as a war artist in both the First and Second World Wars. This picturesque view of a Venetian canal scene bustling with activity ranks among Bone's greatest prints of Italy. The dramatically sunlit scene of the Canal (Rio) and Bridge (Ponte) of SS Apostoli, named for the nearby Chiesa dei Santi Apostoli di Cristo (Church of the Holy Apostles of Christ, which is not shown), features a complex composition crowded with boats and workmen caught in various poses. Beyond the man standing on a low boat diagonally situated in the right foreground, Bone has depicted a barge moored beside a raft, from which a cluster of men hoist goods to a man standing on the arched bridge above. The bridge is filled with pedestrians passing to and fro between the banks flanking the canal; most are seemingly oblivious to the boats and boatmen maneuvering along on the water below. Bone has also skillfully rendered the architectural elements and perspectives of the buildings in the middle ground, as well as for those buildings receding into the background.