The Bridge over the Brenta at Dolo (the Porta del Dolo)

Francesco Guardi (attributed to) 1712 - 1793

Summary

This view is of a bridge over the River Brenta at Dolo in Veneto, with stone houses to the left and right. Two gondalas are passing underneath the bridge, watched by people on the top. Others are walking alongside the canal, and a woman is doing her laundry on a stone balcony that catches the sun. Guardi came from a family of Venetian artists. He worked first on religious paintings, initially with his father and then with his brother, until the latter's death in 1860. From then on he concentrated on vedute (views) and capricci (fantasy views) of Venice. This work has been attributed to him, because it conforms closely to the style of his last decade, although it can be very hard to distinguish Guardi's work from that of contemporary and other imitators.