The Galleria dell’ Accademia is situated in the buildings that once housed the Scuola Grande di Santa Maria della Carità. Here is an impressive collection of Venetian paintings, including works also from the Veneto. The collection features paintings ranging from the Byzantine to the Gothic and Renaissance periods. Among the major artists included in the collection are the Bellini, Carpaccio, Giorgione, Paolo Veronese, Tintoretto, Titian, Canaletto, Francesco Guardi, Bellotto, Longhi and Giambattista Tiepolo. The range of paintings is vast and the visual impact of the gallery is very notable.
The painting Miracle of the Relic of the Cross at the Ponte di Rialto (1496) by Carpaccio was the most captivating painting for me from an art historical perspective. It is a scene of the Venetian Rialto, which was renowned as an international marketplace, and represents a combination of religious and secular subject matter. It was part of a series of nine works commissioned by one of the most prominent civic confraternities in Venice, the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista, and hung at its headquarters near the church of the Frari.
Standing in the Gallerie dell’ Accademia Venice, this painting particularly intrigued me as the chimney stacks are unique, stark and linear and they clearly define a vertical linear projection throughout the composition with the addition of the structure walls, columns and the bridge piers. It is a geometric composition which is mathematically complex as it includes shape, size, position and the properties of space. In some ways it could be viewed as one does an early Caravaggio, as it triggers compositional similarities in relation to its black solid sections and the illumination of the plasticised contrasting reds. It also has a photographic quality that is similar to Caravaggio’s work.
The clouds depicted in the painting, hover above a city seemingly suspended in the sky, and mimic the funnel-like chimney stacks. The cloud shapes gradually elongate and soften out towards the top creating a stepped, almost proportional sequence. The skyline is the most aesthetically stimulating section in the painting with its low lighting effect and clouds which resemble smoke as it plumes from a chugging train and which are illuminated by the blue chill of an evening sky.
This depiction extends an ambient feel of the evening lull combined with the officious presence and dress of the figures below as they prepare for night time activities. The combination of architectural detail and social activity is busy and extremely well defined. The balance of the painting is concentrated to the left middle and lower sections, as the proportion and harmony is juxtaposed with the extending bridge across the canal and the motions made by the figures forming an equilibrium with the right-hand section.
Posted 9 May 2017.
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