Three Sketches of Arches (verso)

1782

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Three Sketches of Arches (verso) is a 1782 by Francesco Guardi, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Francesco Guardi
When & what style?: 1782 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see three quick pencil sketches of arches stacked on one sheet. These aren’t just practice lines. Guardi drew them from a palace balcony while a royal parade rolled through Venice’s main square. The carriages below were covered in giant painted figures—gods, virtues, anything to flatter the visiting Russian prince and princess. He had to work fast, so the arches are barely more than scribbles, but they frame the real show. Look up more drawings of italy, venice to see how artists turned crowds into quick, lively marks.

The story of this work

Overview

This drawing records a grand procession through Venice's Piazza San Marco on the penultimate day of the 1782 celebrations for the visit of the Russian Grand Duke Paul (Pavel) Petrovitch and his wife Maria Feodorovna. Francesco Guardi was likely commissioned by the Venetian state to document the ducal visit. Drawing from the vantage point of the Procuratie Nuove (a palace on one side of the piazza), Guardi sketched five carriages festooned with allegories, which were meant to celebrate the governments of Catherine the Great and Venice. In order to include as much of the procession as possible,…

Did you know?

Before entering the museum's collection, this sheet may have been cut on the left, possibly to eliminate a sixth carriage that does not appear in Guardi’s other representations of the procession.

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

Artist

Francesco Guardi

Francesco Lazzaro Guardi (Italian pronunciation: ; 5 October 1712 – 1 January 1793) was an Italian painter, nobleman, and a member of the Venetian School.

See the richer artist page