The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Piazza San Marco, Venice

Piazza San Marco, Venice

c. 1740

attributed to Bernardo Bellotto

(Italian, 1721–1780)
Framed: 164.5 x 264 x 12 cm (64 3/4 x 103 15/16 x 4 3/4 in.); Unframed: 136.2 x 232.5 cm (53 5/8 x 91 9/16 in.)

Description

This view of the Piazza San Marco, Venice shows Bellotto's devotion to faithful observation. At the left is the church of St. Mark with the Doge's Palace just beyond, leading to the lagoon. Vertically dividing the canvas is the campanile (bell tower) with the Procuratie Nuove (a government building) extending to the right. At the extreme right, opposite St. Mark's, is the façade of the church of San Geminiano which was removed in the 19th century by Napoleon. The two wings of the Procuratie were then joined across the west end of the piazza. Bernardo Bellotto was the nephew and student of Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697–1768) who ran one of the most productive painting workshops in Italy. Like his uncle, Bellotto specialized in vedute (views) of Italy, especially Venice, which were purchased avidly by British aristocrats traveling on the Grand Tour. Bellotto later worked for the courts of Dresden, Vienna, Warsaw, and Munich, painting topographical and imaginary views of those cities.
  • by 1833
    William, 2nd Earl of Craven [1809-1866], Combe Abbey, Warwickshire
    1866-1883
    George Grimstone Craven, 3rd Earl of Craven [1841-1883], Combe Abbey, Warwickshire
    1883-1921
    William George Robert, 4th Earl of Craven [1868-1921], Combe Abbey, Warwickshire
    1921-1961
    Cornelia (nee Martin), Countess of Craven [1877-1961], Hamstead Marshall, Berkshire
    1961
    (sale: Sotheby’s, London, November 29, 1961, no. 42 [as by Canaletto]; purchased by Faroni);
    1962-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Bellotti, Pietro, Canaletto, and Bożena Anna Kowalczyk. Bellotto and Canaletto: Wonder and Light. 2016. catalogue number 15 82-83
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisition Press Release,” July 20, 1962, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisition Press Release,” July 25, 1962, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 146 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 146 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 147 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned: p. 316-318; Reproduced: p. 317
    Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. Mentioned: P. 23; reproduced: P. 25, fig. 5
    Kowalczyk, Bożena Anna Bellotto and Canaletto: Wonder and Light. Exh. cat. Milan: Gallerie d'Italia. Milano: Silvana Editoriale, 2016. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 75, 82-83. no. 15; 273
  • Bellotto and Canaletto. The Wonder of Light. Gallerie d'Italia - Piazza Scala, Milan, Italy (organizer) (November 25, 2016-March 5, 2017).
    Gallerie d'Italia - Piazza Scala, Milan, Italy (11/25/2016 - 3/5/2017): "Bellotto and Canaletto. The Wonder of Light" catalogue number 15, p. 82-83
    Venice as City and Theater. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-April 21, 1985).
    Painting in Italy in the Eighteenth Century, Rococo to Romanticism. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (September 19-November 8, 1970); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (December 2, 1970-January 9, 1971); The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (February 7-March 21, 1971).
    Catalogue of Pictures, Chiefly by the Old Masters of the Italian, Flemish and Spanish Schools, Birmingham (England), Society of Arts, 1833, cat. no. 112.
    Art Treasures of the United Kingdom, Manchester, 1857, cat. no. 827.
    British Institution, London, 1863, cat. no. 63.
    Painting in Italy in the Eighteenth Century: Rococo to Romanticism, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Toledo, 1970-71, cat. no. 16, illus.
    Year in Review - 1962. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 24-November 25, 1962).
  • {{cite web|title=Piazza San Marco, Venice|url=false|author=Bernardo Bellotto|year=c. 1740|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.169