Venice: Piazza San Marco

1760

His brother Gian Antonio dies; his son Vincenzo is born

Francesco’s elder brother Gian Antonio, with whom he had produced religious paintings early in his career, died, and Francesco’s first son, Vincenzo, was born (some accounts give his birthday as 25 August, without naming the year).

1764

Shows views of San Marco and the Rialto in the Procuratie

Guardi exhibited two views in the Procuratie building in Venice — Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge, taken with the aid of a camera obscura “at the request of an anonymous English foreigner”, possibly the British consul Joseph Smith, a collector and publisher of prints.

13. April 1764

Son born: Giacomo Guardi

1768

After Canaletto’s death, heir to his art

After Canaletto’s death Francesco Guardi became the true heir and continuer of his art — though, unlike most view painters, he rendered Venetian architecture not with precision but freely and painterly.

27 January 1769

His wife dies after childbirth

On 14 January 1769 Guardi’s third son, Giovanni Battista, was born but died three days later; on 27 January the painter’s wife, Maria Mattea, also died of complications after the birth.