An architectural capriccio with a campiello

Antonio Morassi described this small painting as one of Francesco Guardi's most successful capriccios, describing it as 'Capriccio del tutto originale nel repertorio franceschiano. Opera squisita, della maturità.' ('A completely original capriccio in his French repertoire. An exquisite mature work.') He points particularly to the ephemeral aspects of light, contrasting the dramatic, dark shadow cast by the looming edifice at the far right with the sparkling, sunlit, Venetian palazzo just beyond. The lively figures as well as the architectural details have been rendered with a freedom and vibrancy of brushwork that was one of Guardi's most admired qualities. Given its small scale and capriccio subject matter, it is likely that this painting was intended for a domestic, rather than foreign, audience.

The present work is comparable in the use of light effects and strong diagonals to Guardi's Capriccio con Campiello e figure varie in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow (see A. Morassi, op. cit., no. 766, fig. 699).