View through a portico with the Doge’s Palace; and A portico in a courtyard

In his capricci, like his topographical views, Guardi demonstrated an unrivalled ability to evoke the thriving life and special atmosphere of eighteenth century Venice. This characteristic pair of views make use of Venice’s porticos and arches, with light and shadow cutting across both compositions. The design of the first picture, with its diagonal, receding portico, can be seen in another canvas formerly with Knoedler (A. Morassi, Guardi. I dipinti, Venice, 1984, no. 794, fig. 723); the latter shows the two women hanging laundry from the balcony in similar fashion, but has fewer figures than the picture in question. The same portico, slightly extended, is shown in drawings in the Museo Correr, Venice and Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam. The second canvas is close to a group of five works listed by Morassi, including pictures in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, the Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, and the Wallace Collection, London (Morassi, nos. 812- 815, figs. 737, 738 and 740), which each use an almost identical portico, with the half-open door on the left. This picture differs, however, in showing the corner of the Doge’s Palace beyond the arch on the left, where the others all show an unidentified church dome.