La Scuola di San Marco with the Monument to the Colleoni

(Giuseppe-Bernardo Bison)

This pair of paintings represent one of the most celebrated Venetian settings, the Campo Santi Giovanni & Paolo shown from two opposing viewpoints. The former illustrates the front elevation of the School of San Marco, with the perspective altered to include all the major monuments in the Piazza, notably the equestrian sculpture of the Colleoni. The pendant shows the facade of the Church of Santi Giovanni & Paolo itself. These two broad views seem to have been made on different occasions but are nonetheless close in spirit, enabling the artist to evoke similar sentiments of immediacy in capturing this fleeting moment of reality. The technique, with a porcelain-like finish that enhances the definition of the smaller details, enables us to clearly recognize the style of Giuseppe Bernardino Bison.

F.Pedrocco, ‘Il Settecento a Venezia i Vedutisti, 2001