Francesco Guardi

Francesco Guardi – Offspring of an artist family; work in his father’s workshop

Only a few key dates are known about the life of the Italian Rococo master Francesco Guardi: He was born on 5 October 1712 in La Serenissima, the Republic of Venice, from the union of the northern Italian Baroque artist Domenico Guardi and Maria Claudia Pichler. Guardi had three siblings: his brothers Giovanni Antonio Guardi and Nicolò Guardi were also active as painters and worked together with Francesco in the family workshop for many years. His sister Cecilia Guardi married the then highly famous and celebrated painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo who was appointed the first president of the Accademia di belle arti di Venezia in 1756. Francesco Guardi himself became a member of the academy in 1747. After the death of his elder brother Antonio, Francesco left his father’s workshop and worked from then on alone, with great success. He also trained his son Jacopo to be a painter. 

Venetian veduta as delicate harbingers of Impressionism

At the beginning of his artistic career, Francesco Guardi painted mainly altar pictures, but after his teacher Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) turned his back on Venice, he moved increasingly to veduta painting as its successor. He initially chose his city of Venice as a motif, which he captured from many viewpoints, often from the same perspective that his mentor Canaletto had already chosen. At first glance, however, the differences in the representational styles of the teacher and student were clear even to the layman. Francesco Guardi paid attention in particular to the dramatic effect, the strong application of paint masterly creating the effective play of light and shadow. With flickering light, he dissolved the forms of his models and anticipated the later Impressionism in features. In contrast to his predecessor Canaletto, the actual topographic conditions of a motif interested him less than the overall composition; he consistently subordinated realism to drama. 

Intoxicating festivities, genre scenes and a papal visit

Francesco Guardi struck a nerve with his art and enthused numerous generous patrons for himself and his work. Not only private individuals but also the Republic of Venice itself gave him a contingent of attractive commissions, such as the particularly prestigious cycle of the twelve festivals which he produced for the Doge Alvise IV Mocenigo, and accompanied the visit of Pope Pius VI to Venice with four paintings. When the Russian Grand Duke and Duchess visited the city, Francesco Guardi painted pictures of the lavish festivities held in honour of the noble guests. Guardi also created many genre scenes, for example the Conversation Room (Parlatorium) of the nuns of San Zaccaria. Whilst Guardi’s full significance was only belatedly grasped, posterity owes Guardi not only fairytale illustrations of Venice, but also detailed testimonies to the fashions and customs of the Rococo period. 

Francesco Guardi died on 1 January 1793 in his birth town of Venice.