One of the most renowned groups in the Gulbenkian Museum’s collections is the splendid set of paintings by Francesco Guardi (1712-1793), the last great Venetian painter of views in the 18th century, acquired in the first twenty years of the 20th century. They include some of the most sublime works by the artist, who is famous for having begun painting views in middle age, after years spent experimenting with history and genre painting.

All dating from between 1770 and 1790, Guardi’s works in the Gulbenkian are outstanding examples of his style, with allusive brushstrokes and freely distorted proportions, creating views in which the structure of perspective appears elastic. Now far removed from Canaletto’s geometric certainties and camera obscura, Venice as portrayed by Francesco Guardi is made up of buildings eroded by light, rendered through tremulous brushwork, as if offering an inward image of Venice and its civilisation already in rapid decline. The subjects are those that the artist explored at various times, such as The Feast of the Ascension in St. Mark’s Square, the Regattas on the Grand Canal and the Departure of the Bucintoro.