Audio Stop 413

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Dozens of men with several women and a few children gather in pairs or small groups across a sun-drenched plaza in front of a domed church next to a long, pale pink building in this horizontal painting. The people’s faces and hands we can see have pale, peachy skin. The men wear hats and shin-length capes or jackets over stockings in tones of charcoal gray, olive green, butterscotch yellow, black, and brown. The women wear black capes covering their heads and long, full skirts. The ash-brown plaza has two zones where geometric patterns are picked out in a lighter, oatmeal brown. Three coral-red flagpoles are spaced along the center of the plaza parallel to the two buildings. Each flagpole rests on an olive-green base about a third of the height of the pole. Tables under open umbrellas clustered around the outer two flagpoles display piles of cloth, and a few people gather around the wares. The domed building extends into the scene from the left edge of the painting, and reaches about a third of the way across as it angles away from us. It has a central portal with nested arches, flanked to each side by a pair of slightly smaller, arched portals. Scenes against gold backgrounds appear in the archway of each of the five doors. There is a second level of arches above. The smaller arches to either side are decorated with more scenes of people against gold backgrounds. Four gold horses stand atop the central, lower arch, each with one front and one back hoof raised. The arch behind them is dim, the back side of a stained-glass window. The stone of the arches and front of the building are light brown. The upper arches are lined with pale, slate-gray spires and curling tracery. The three-story pink building sits close by to our right, extending into the distance on the same angle as the church, and as tall as its neighbor. The lowest level is a series of open, pointed arches. The second level is also a row of arches, but more closely spaced. People walk and stand under both covered walkways. The top half of the building has a carnation-pink façade with seven windows evenly spaced across its width. The central window is surrounded by carved stone ornament. Along the right edge of the painting and closer to us than the large buildings is the corner of a two-story building. The lower level is in shadow under a sloping awning, creating a merchant’s stall, and the second level has a rounded, arched window. One person stands at the front corner of the roof and looks down into the square. In the narrow gap between the row of buildings to our left and the smaller structure to our right is a winged lion atop a tall column. Beyond that is sparkling blue water with several masted ships and long, narrow gondolas. The sky above has thin white clouds against a pale blue sky. The artist signed the lower left, “A.C.F.”

Canaletto

The Square of Saint Mark's, Venice, 1742/1744

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 31

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St Mark’s Square, Venice by Canaletto, painted 1742 to 1744. Oil on canvas. The painted surface is just under 4 feet high by about 5 feet wide.

This description is 3 minutes long.

We look slightly down onto and across St Mark’s Square in Venice, towards St Mark’s Basilica, or cathedral, to the left, and the adjoining Ducal Palace, to the right.

In the plaza in front of the buildings, people stroll, stand and talk, or buy and sell goods from stalls.

The cathedral and palace buildings nearly span the width of the canvas: they stop just short of the right side as they angle away from us to our right. The left edge of the cathedral lines up with the left edge of the canvas. To the right, the whole rose pink façade of the palace is shown, with a distant glimpse of water and ships beyond.

Above, the sky is duck-egg blue, with a few fluffy white clouds.

Let’s move across the two buildings from left to right.

The façade of St Mark’s Basilica is divided into two registers. The lower register has deeply recessed, arched portals. There is a wide entrance in the center, with 3 narrower arches to each side. These arches are supported on clusters of slender columns.

In the upper register, a shallow balcony runs across an elaborately decorated façade. A central arch is the width of the wide portal below. A sculpture of four golden, prancing horses sits in front of this arch. A pair of arches, wider than those on the lower level, flank the central arch on the second story. These arch-shaped features to each side are decorated with painted scenes; and each arch is crowned with a band of ornamental stonework.

Silvery domes topped by pointed lanterns rise beyond the upper gallery.

Moving along to the right, the cathedral adjoins the pink façade of the Ducal Palace. This building is a long, rectangular block, supported by two levels of archways, one over the other. People walk among the columns supporting the lower archway, on ground level. Above it, people peer out from behind a stone handrail in the upper archway, which runs the full length of the building. The façade above is pierced by seven large windows, the central one surrounded by ornamental stonework.

Moving now to the foreground: the square is an expansive paved space. Stalls set out under umbrellas are piled with colorful textiles. People, mostly men, gather around the stalls and stroll in between. The men wear cloaks, tricorne hats over powdered wigs, and wide-skirted coats. The few women wear full-skirted dresses and shawls, or are dressed in nuns’ habits.

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