Grand Canal, Venice
Richard Parkes Bonington
1826
Richard Parkes Bonington left Paris for Italy with his friend and pupil Charles Rivet, later Baron Rivet, on April 4, 1826. They arrived in Venice in late April and stayed there until the end of May. Bonington sketched incessantly in graphite, watercolor, and oils. He had begun sketching en plein air in oils on small millboards, which he discovered during a trip to London in 1825. He seems to have brought back about two dozen such sketches on millboard from Italy. This example shows the north side of the Grand Canal looking toward the Bacino di San Marco. While Bonington has deftly captured the brilliant shimmering light on the water and the facades of the palazzi, topographical accuracy was clearly not a priority. He has elided the famous Palazzo Gritti-Pisani from the succession of buildings lining the canal.
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven · Image: Yale Center for British Art, Public domain · Text: Yale Center for British Art, CC0