Canaletto “The Piazzetta with St. Mark's Basilica and the Marciana Library”

Painting - Oil on Canvas (69 x 92cm) 1733-35 Galleria Nazionale Barberini Rome

Canaletto, The Piazzetta St. Mark A quiet Piazzetta San Marco compared to today, no crowds!

The Basilica of St. Mark rises to our left. Unfortunately, the tight framing of Canaletto does not allow us to see the horses of the quadriga.

On the other hand, the Doge's Palace succeeds in showing us a part of its pink facade.

On the right, the Marciana Library is particularly well rendered with its high arcades.

On the Piazzetta itself, one can see the little daily Venetian life, with its nobles in great discussion and the people, children, several small dogs, and a few stalls on the right.

Canaletto, The Piazzetta St. Mark We could notice these same shops in his painting “St. Mark's Square with the Procuraties seen from St. Mark's Basilica”, shops built against the Campanile of St. Mark and its loggia, unthinkable today!

But the show is at the bottom of the painting, with these superb sailing boats at anchor in the St. Mark's Basin and in front of the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, whose church's facade can be seen on the left.

To the far right, right next to the column crowned by the statue of St. George and his dragon, stands a bell tower that seems to be on the island of La Giudecca, a campanile that has now disappeared.

Finally, on the left at the foot of the column of the lion of St. Mark, this large sheeted rowing boat is none other than the Doge's parade boat, the famous Bucintoro, the Bucentaur.

Canaletto, The Piazzetta St. Mark