Gondolas on the Lagoon (Grey Lagoon)

Today's description has been prepared by the museum that owns it - Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan, located near the famous Teatro della Scala. The museum is notable for its broad collection of Northern Italian and (for Italy) Netherlandish/Flemish artists. Enjoy! :) This painting is considered a masterpiece of Francesco Guardi's poetical landscape painting. Although the date of this painting has long been debated, scholars generally agree in dating the work to 1765, as this is the period in which Canaletto's influence, evident in Gondolas on the Lagoon, was strongly noticeable in Guardi's art. This veduta ("view" in Italian) is characterized by a suggestive, almost magical atmosphere; a gondola sails on the calm water, while in the sunset light the Venetian estuary is barely visible. The predominant colors of the painting are grey and pale blue, illuminated by pink patches in the background. The only element that allows us to distinguish between the sky and the water is a line of buildings not very well defined, perhaps identifiable with one of the furthest points of Murano. Scholars agree that, in this remarkable picture, the composition is uniquely balanced and refined, representing a starting point for the development of landscape painting in the Nineteenth century.