Folios 82 verso–87 recto (
D32424–D32433), all drawn with the pages turned horizontally, form a brief sequence of views around the Bacino. Although Finberg only labelled this view and related studies below it as ‘Shipping’,
1 the distant features on the right are readily recognisable as the dome and campanile of the church of San Giorgio Maggiore with its associated monastic buildings on the island of the same name on the south-eastern side of the Bacino.
The viewpoint is off the Riva degli Schiavoni, looking south-south-west so the side of the church and the building with the three rounded gables to its east are seen in elevation, from about the same point as the Riva view in the opposite direction on folio 85 recto opposite (
D32429). In the foreground a two-masted vessel is shown sailing eastwards into the Canale di San Marco.
Below is a secondary study of smaller goats including a gondola or gondolas, with San Giorgio’s spire repeated towards the bottom left above the small lighthouse at the eastern end of the island’s harbour.
Compare folio 86 recto (
D32431), a similar subject with the church shown in slightly more detail.
Matthew Imms
September 2018
