Venice, View Of St. Mark's Basin - F. Guarana, Late 19th Century

Venice, view of St. Mark's Basin
F. Guarana - Signed bottom right
Oil on canvas
Late 19th century
Canvas cm. 120 x 60
Frame cm. 140 x 80
Excellent condition

A large oil painting on canvas depicting the spectacular view of St. Mark's Basin with a succession of magnificent Palaces and Monuments overlooking its waters, filled with typical and varied Venetian boats. An incredible crowd of characters fills the Square, the bridges, the piers, the gondolas and the ships. The size of the canvas and the elongated shape allow the Author to describe in an exceptional way all the details of the panorama and to express his excellent pictorial skills, with a perfect miniaturist rendering of the architectural details and the boats, in addition to the exceptional swarming of small figures. The visual impact is remarkable, but then the viewer's gaze is lost in the infinite sequence of depictions that make up this extraordinary scenario that has no equal, and continues to fascinate millions of visitors from all over the world. The work bears the signature of F. Guarana, an artist working between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. His paintings depicting Venetian views are distinguished by an excellent ability in perspective painting and a scrupulous finesse in the brushstroke. We publish two views very similar to this one that were auctioned in recent years. The painting is in excellent condition and in first canvas, without any restoration or repainting. The gilded wooden tray-shaped frame is the original.