Venice, masks and gondolas
Francesco Guardi
Francesco Guardi’s Venice in the 1760s and 1770s, painted with a quick, flickering brush. Piazza San Marco with its bell tower against a wide blue sky, the Rialto bridge from further up the Grand Canal, sails and masts crowding the basin of San Marco, figures in black robes in the anteroom of the Great Council hall, and masks mingling at the Ridotto. And one place that never existed: ruins, trees and boats under a curved top.
As a puzzle
Start with the buildings, where the lines are firm: the bell tower, the bridge, the palace fronts. Then the gondolas and the crowds of tiny figures, each made of a few strokes. The long arcade along the piazza repeats arch after arch, and the skies and the green water are wide and even, so leave those for last. These take a high count well.
A good size here: 60–300 pieces.
Also filed under Venetian Painting
Subjects here: Towns and CitiesInteriorsLandscapesThe Sea
6 pictures, pick one to build
