with love, piazza san marco

This one.
A beautiful piece of art that has lived rent free in my head for the past two years.
I’ve been searching for it ever since, with great difficulties, up until just a few months ago when I for some reason stumbled upon a Youtube-video about all of the paintings and artwork in Buckingham Palace.
And it was there where I finally got the name of the Italian artist, Canaletto (1697-1768).

’The Piazza San Marco looking East towards the Basilica’ (1723-1724 or 1730-1734)

A striking painting depicting the every day life of the people in Venice.
It has so much contrast and sharpness. Canaletto’s attention to details is something worth admiring.
There’s a strange sense of familiarity and nostalgia that washes over me whenever I see this painting that is just hard to describe. It feels so personal, which is quite bizarre since I was born 260 years later.
There is a lot to take in with this piece of art but at the same time, there’s an easy flow to it that makes it easily digestible as well as hooks you and fascinates you with its never ending beauty.
Almost as if you wish you were there to experience life at this time. Or maybe that’s just me.
And yes, I’m definitely adding this one to my collection.

Other paintings that I’ve written about:
The birth of Venus
Portrait of a black woman
Judith beheading Holofernes
The execution of Lady Jane Gray