A large scale painting, composed of oil colors on an immense canvas, proudly hangs in the Museo Correr in the heart of Venice, the Piazza di San Marco. G.B. Arzenti’s “Pianta-Veduta di Venezia” is a depiction of the city from a bird’s eye view that not only displays a beautiful layout of the city, but also speaks volumes about the city of Venice itself.
The artistic decisions made by Arzenti while creating this piece not only add to the beauty of the composition but also highlight the nature of the city itself. The vivid bright blue of the water streaming through the canals and into the Venetian lagoon greatly overshadows the earthly and dull reddish-brown of the city buildings. This color choice emphasizes the water and conveys the importance of water in Venice. Water truly was, and remains to be, a valued resource for the city. In a time when there was a great fear of foreign invaders, the lagoon provided security and acted as a natural moat that protected Venice. Water was also the catalyst that allowed Venice to develop its mercantile industry and to become a major player in the international trade network.
Compositionally, there is a large quantity of ships found throughout the piece. The majority of the ships reside in the Venetian lagoon and near the Arsenal, depicting once again the importance of sailing in the Venetian society and the significance of ships for military combat, modes of transportation, and as vessels for trading. The ships in the work are extremely massive, with several of them being larger than the lagoon islands and parts of the city. Arzenti depicted the ships in such a monumental way similar to how the Gothic artists portrayed artistic subjects based on hierarchical standards and superiority. This focus on the ships once again points to the significance of Venice as a mercantile capital and also reflects the pride of the city for possessing such a glorious title.
For further compositional analysis, the city itself is unique in how it is depicted. While some buildings appear hazy and dark, a blend of color absent of detail, other buildings are exceptionally detailed and crisp. For example, the Basilica di San Marco is extravagantly detailed, complete with dazzling teal domes and bright crimson flags. The Basilica is the most colorful building in the piece, which is representative of the strong religiosity of the Venetians. The Ponte di Rialto also appears clearly in the work, proudly rising above the miniscule and lowly buildings around it. The Rialto is a chief landmark in Venice that has a superiority that other bridges simply do not possess being that it is the main bridge over the Grand Canal. Throughout Arzenti’s work, the more detailed, and therefore more significant, buildings appear on the edges of the canals, while buildings in the interior of the city appear less detailed.
All of the buildings in the piece are entirely unique, which is an amazing feat for such a large scale painting. The melting pot of architectural styles in Venice is described in this work, with Gothic pointed arches adorning the façade of some buildings while the gentle curves of the Renaissance style decorate others. In comparison to the buildings, the people in the city are portrayed as minuscule figures, lightly spotting the streets of the city and the Piazza. They appear as almost shadows, with the focus of the work remaining on the glory of the city itself and not on the inhabitants.
On the edges of the painting lies a cloudy mist that surrounds the city. The island of Burano is identified with a label in the painting, yet one can barely distinguish the island because it is lost in the foggy haze. This haze provokes a great deal of questions. What does this haze represent? The haze could indicate that Venice is protected, not only by the sea, but also by the elements of nature, and perhaps even God himself. Is the haze isolating Venice from the rest of the world? Arzenti could be implying that Venice is a sacred gem, a treasure that is lost in its own world while nothing else great truly exists beyond the sea. Perhaps Arzenti was simply depicting the natural mist that sometimes rolls into Venice from the lagoon, and nothing more. One could interpret the haze in many different ways, and the subtle incorporation of this element adds a sense of mystery to piece.
The perspective of the viewer in this work is interesting, because instead of being invited into the work, the viewer is distant from the subject. We, as the viewer, have a bird’s eye view of the city, allowing us to view Venice in its entirety. However, when one is in the city of Venice itself, it is impossible to view the city as a whole. The twisting canals and maze of calles barricade and separate the city into small modules, while the towering buildings shield the city from the eyes of those inhabiting it. Michel de Certeau’s work “Walking in the City” highlights the difference from viewing a city as a voyeur, high above city, and as a pedestrian from within the confines of the city down below. Certeau substitutes the word “walkers” for pedestrians in his piece, and describes them as living “down below, below the thresholds at which visibility begins” and states that they simply “follow the thicks and thins of an urban ‘text’ they write without being able to read it.” Certeau implies that those in the city cannot accurately view their surroundings like those above the “thresholds at which visibility begins” and seems to imply a form of ignorance that “walkers” posses that prevents them from understanding the true nature and reality of the city they inhabit. Certeau explains that we should strive to be voyeurs, rising above the natural constraints of being “in” the city and become free to examine the city from outside its “grasp.” Arzenti’s depiction of Venice allows us the luxury of viewing the city as a voyeur and invites us to detangle ourselves from the depths of the city.
G.B. Arzenti’s work may appear to be a simple painting of a map of Venice- however with closer examination, it is clear that the artistic decisions made by Arzenti reflect the personality of Venice and allows us to view Venice from a truly analytical, voyeur point of view.
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