Francesco Guardi
Venice, the Grand Canal with Santa Maria della Salute
c. 1750
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)
Dayton Art Institute, "The City by the River and the Sea," April 18-May 28, 1951.
Palazzo Ducale, Venice, "I Vedusti Veneziani del Settecento," June 10-October 15, 1967, no. 133.
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "From El Greco to Pollock: Early and Late Works by European and American Artists," October 22, 1968 - December 8, 1968, no. 31, p. 50.
Palazzo Ducale, Venice, "I Vedusti Veneziani del Settecento," June 10-October 15, 1967, no. 133.
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "From El Greco to Pollock: Early and Late Works by European and American Artists," October 22, 1968 - December 8, 1968, no. 31, p. 50.
'The Collection of Mary Frick Jacobs,' Baltimore: Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs, 1938, no. 28 [as "Canals of Venice"]
Fabio Mauroner, 'Michele Marieschi" '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.
Antonio Morassi, ed. "Michele Marieschi", exhibition catalogue, Bergamo: Galleria Lorenzelli, 1966, no. 571
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"]
Pietro Zempetti, "I vedutisti veneziani del settecento", exhibition catalogue, Venice: Alfieri, 1967, no. 134
Luitpold Dussler, "Francesco Guardis Bilder Der Alten Pinakothek", Pantheon 26, 1968, p. 26-35
Rolf Kultzen, "Francesco Guardi in der Alten Pinakothek, Munchen", Munich: Bayer, Staats-gemaldesammlungen, n.d., 1968, p. 24
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.
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.
Inscribed: None
On View: Jacobs, Gallery 8
