Enchanting, captivating, precious--Venice is one of the most cherished
cities in the world. For centuries it was the heart of a global maritime
power and a crossroads for diverse cultures. Today the city attracts
millions of visitors each year, enticed by its irresistible beauty. Art
lovers are drawn here by the paintings, prints, drawings, and films made
by generations of artists who have captured its magical allure. It is
through images--both of the city and the art created there--that
Venice's identity has been forged and spread so powerfully.
Venice was a major center of art in the Renaissance: the city where the
medium of oil on canvas became the norm. The achievements of the Bellini
brothers, Vittore Carpaccio, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, and Paolo
Veronese are a key part of this story. Nowhere else has been depicted by
so many great painters in so many diverse styles and moods. Venetian
views were a specialty of native artists such as Canaletto and Francesco
Guardi, but the city has also been represented by outsiders: William
Turner, Claude Monet, John Singer Sargent, Howard Hodgkin, and many
more.
Then there are those who came to look at and write about art. The
reactions of Henry James, George Eliot, Richard Wagner, and others
enrich this tale. Nor is the story over. Since the advent of the Venice
Biennale in the 1890s, the city has become a shop window for the
contemporary art of the whole world.
In this elegant volume, Martin Gayford takes us on a visual journey
through the past five centuries of the city known as "La Serenissima,"
the "Most Serene."
