(Palmanova 1762–1844 Milan)
Piazza San Marco, Venice,
tempera on paper, 19.5 x 29 cm, framed

The present composition depicts one of the most significant buildings in Venice, Saint Mark’s Basilica, with the Old and New Procuracies, flanking the square before it, to the left and right. As is often the case in Bison’s works, the scene is based on an etching by Antonio Visentini derived from a painting by Canaletto which is now conserved in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. The engraving is part of the Urbis Venetiarum Prospectus Celebriores, a series consisting of thirty-eight views published in 1742 on commission from the English merchant Joseph Smith (D. Succi, La Serenissima nello specchio di rame, Castelfranco Veneto 2013, I, no. 40, p. 217).

The use of tempera on paper, sometimes chosen by the artist as an alternative to the use of oil on canvas, contributes to the depiction of soft, textured clouds standing out against the blue sky, while the small, vibrant human figures (the so-called macchiette) are characterised by bright colours.

Giuseppe Bernardino Bison was born in Palmanova del Friuli and when he was still a youth, he entered the Venetian artistic milieu. He achieved considerable success, even as a decorator of interiors. He gained the greatest acclaim, however, as a landscape and view painter, and by circa 1800, he had gained significant patronage in Trieste, a city which was then inhabited by a wealthy bourgeoisie who were active collectors of art. This community adopted Bison for his ability to unite the delicacy of eighteenth-century painting, with a significant revitalisation of subject and style proper to the cultural renewal of the nineteenth century.