Francesco Guardi
Venice, the Grand Canal with Santa Maria della Salute
1744-1754
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Francesco Guardi
Venice, the Grand Canal with Santa Maria della Salute
1744-1754
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, 36 1/4 x 51 15/16 in. (92.1 x 131.9 cm.)
Credit Line
The Mary Frick Jacobs Collection
Object Number
1938.215
The majestic dome of Santa Maria della Salute dominates the entrance to the Grand Canal in Venice. Construction on the soaring white church began in 1631 in gratitude to the Virgin Mary for saving the city from the previous year’s outbreak of plague. The church, whose name means Saint Mary of Good Health, figured into many panoramic view paintings or vedute that Francesco Guardi painted of his native city. During the eighteenth century, Venice was a city of illusion, scrambling to maintain a facade of stability as the once-mighty republic began to crumble under corruption and economic failure. Guardi’s depiction of the graceful church–alternately bathed in sunlight and obscured in deep shadow–serves as a reminder of the majesty Venice was trying so hard to preserve.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest 1938; from Mary Frick Jacobs, Baltimore; purchased from Blakeslee Galleries, New York, 1913; Collection Arthur J. Sulley, Middletown, Berkshire, England; purchased from Palazzo Comello-Montalba, Venice (unconfirmed)
From La Serenissima to the Eternal City: The Grand Tour in 18th Century Venice and Rome
Jacobs Wing Rotations 2021
Jacobs Wing Rotations 2022
Jacobs Wing Rotations 2023
Jacobs Wing Rotations 2024
Jacobs Reinstallation 2026
Jacobs Wing Rotations 2025
'The Collection of Mary Frick Jacobs,' Baltimore: Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs, 1938, no. 28 [as "Canals of Venice"]
'The Print Collector's Quarterly, April 1940, pp. 179-215.
W. G. Constable, 'Two Paintings by Marieschi,' "BMA News," January 1949, pp. 1-4, ill. p. 3.
Rodolfo Pallucchini, 'A proposito della mostra Bergamasco de Marieschi,' "Arte Veneta," XX, 1966, p. 316.
Rolf Kultzen, 'Francesco Guardi in der Alten Pinakothek, Munchen,' Munich 1967, p. 24 [as "Grand Canal"]
Terisio Pignatti, 'The Contemporajeity of the 18th century Venetial Vedutisti,' "Art International," Vol. XI/10, Christmas 1967, p. 24 [as "Grand Canal"]
Gertrude Rosenthal, et al. 'Italian Paintings XIV-XVIIth centuries from the collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art,' Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1980, pp. 260-273, ill p. 260
Ellis Waterhouse, 'Burlington Magazine,' vol. 124, no. 250, May 1982, p. 30.
Denis Mahon, 'When did Francesco Guardi Become a Vedutista?', "The Burlington Magazine, Feb. 1968, pp. 69, 70, 72.
Rosenthal, Gertrude, ed. From El Greco to Pollock: Early and Late Works by European and American Artists. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1968, pp. 50, ill.
Luigina Rossi Bortolatto, ed. "L'opera completta di Francesco Guardi," Milano: Rizzoli Editore, 1974, ill. 101, pg.95.
Inscribed: None
On View at the BMA
