Oil painting, 'Venice: View of Santa Maria delle Salute and the Dogana', Follower of Francesco Guardi, 19th century

Under a wide blue sky, the Punta della Dogana in Venice with the basilica Santa Maria della Salute on the right, the sea dotted with gondolas in the foreground.

Bequeathed by John M. Parsons

Bequeathed by John M. Parsons, 1870
John Meeson Parsons (1798-1870), art collector, was born in Newport, Shropshire. He later settled in London, and became a member of the stock exchange. His interest in railways led to his election as an associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1839, and he was director or chairman of two railway companies between 1843 and 1848. Much of his time however was spent collecting pictures and works of art. In his will he offered his collection of mostly German and Dutch schools to the National Gallery (which selected only three works) and to the Department of Science and Art at South Kensington, later the Victoria and Albert Museum. The South Kensington Museum acquired ninety-two oil paintings and forty-seven watercolours. A number of engravings were also left to the British Museum.

Historical significance: This work, formerly attributed to Francesco Guardi, depicts the Punta della Dogana in Venice with the basilica of Santa Maria della Salute at the right. It is an imitation, probably of 19th century date, of a favourite compositional formula by Guardi. A. Morassi (1973) listed around 14 similar autograph views. His work was much imitated during his lifetime and long after his death.

The view is of the Punta della Dogana, the old customs house in Venice, situated across the Canal from the Piazza San Marco and adjacent to the centrally planned basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, designed by Baldassare Longhena (1598-1682) and completed in 1681.

This copy imitates Guardi's characteritic 'macchiette' - small dots of colour - but lacks his characteristic free brushwork and attention to detail. Its warm colour scheme is dominated by golden sunlight and a sky with white and purple hues, enhanced by the play of light and shade on the architecture.

Francesco Guardi (1712-1793) was born in Venice, the son of an Austrian painter Domenico Guardi (1678-1716). He shared the studio of his elder brother Gian Antonio (1698-1760) and was a collaborator of Canaletto. He later ran a large independent studio. and trained both his younger brother Nicolò and his son Giacomo, who imitated his father's style. Guardi was elected to the Venetian Acadmey in 1784. He specialised in small views of Venice, and succeded Canaletto as the principal view painter in the city.

A 'veduta' is a painted, drawn or engraved composition representing a landscape or a town, largely topographical in conception. These were particularly popular during the era of the Grand Tour. Such painters were known as 'vedutisti' and sometimes employed a 'camera obscura', a box with a small hole used as an optical device, to capture effects of scenery. Canaletto also travelled to England and painted many views of London, creating a taste for view paintings, which influenced the next generation of English painters, including JMW Turner (1775-1851).The 'veduta' eventually succumbed to the invention of photography.

Francesco Guardi (1712-1793) was born in Venice and specialised in little views of the city. He was a collaborator of Canaletto when he was in his 40s and became later popular running a large studio of his own. He trained both his younger brother Nicolò and his son Giacomo, whose work is well known and who imitated his father's style.

This painting is a 19th-century imitation of a recurrent composition in Francesco Guardi's work. It shows under a wide blue sky, the Punta della Dogana in Venice with the basilica Santa Maria della Salute on the right while in the foreground the mouth of the Grand Canal is dotted with elongated boats known as gondolas.

497-1870