Francesco GuardiItalian, 1712–1793Piazza San Marco
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Piazza San Marco” now? The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gallery 644, New York. Yes, on view now. Checked September 29, 2026.
New York, United States
Closed· opens at 10:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 50.145.21
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Open Access (CC0)
In the life of Francesco Guardi
The whole life1760
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.
