Venice: The Arsenal

This view of the Arsenal, around 1757, in the National Gallery London, depicts Venice's famous shipyard—the largest industrial complex in pre-modern Europe. The Arsenal was both a military installation and a source of Venetian civic pride, its massive gate a symbol of maritime power. Guardi worked in oil on canvas using a notably free and rapid technique, building atmospheric effects through broken strokes of silvery grey, warm ochre, and cool blue-green that seem to dissolve in Venetian ligh...

The imposing gateway of the Arsenal is rendered with more architectural precision than Guardi typically employed, its Renaissance facade clearly described. The surrounding water and sky, however, display his characteristic atmospheric freedom.