# The Campo di SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice

**Bernardo Bellotto** (Venetian, 1722–1780)  
1743/1747  
oil on canvas  
overall: 70.8 x 111 cm (27 7/8 x 43 11/16 in.)

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942.9.7. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.1144.html).

## About this work

Bernardo Bellotto painted this in 1743/1747, aged about 21. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

### What you’re looking at

People walk, sit, or stand on a plaza along a canal lined on the far side with buildings in this horizontal landscape painting. The canal begins in the lower left corner and angles slightly right as it travels to the horizon, which comes about a third of the way up this composition. One, two, three, or four-story buildings line the canal to the left into the far distance. Arched doorways give direct access to the water, and one person leans out an upper-story window. The buildings are reflected in the gently rippling water, which is painted in shades of olive green. A stepped bridge crosses the canal in the near distance, and two gondoliers guide a long, narrow boat to a platform alongside the plaza in the bottom left corner of the composition. People walk or stand singly or in pairs on the plaza in the bottom right quadrant of the painting. The women wear dresses with long skirts and head coverings in shades of black, white, yellow, or pale pink. The men wear hats, jackets, capes, stockings, and slacks in shades of peanut brown, muted yellow, red, blue, or white. The people all appear to have pale, peachy skin. A statue of a man riding a horse rests on a towering platform in a grassy patch to our right. Beyond it is the blocky form of a red brick church. One man in a pair standing on the plaza gestures toward the entrance with a walking stick and others approach the central entrance. Sunlight streams across the scene from the upper right, throwing the church façade into shadow and casting a deep shadow across the face of another building that encloses the far side of the plaza. That second building has arched windows and doors, statues lining the roofline, and a winged lion over the entrance. A fat cloud trundles across a mostly empty vibrant blue sky above.

_Description from the National Gallery of Art._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Bernardo Bellotto](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/bernardo-bellotto)

Venetian, 1722–1780

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- The artist was about 21
- Real size: about 28 × 44 in (71 × 111 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 20 × 30 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 18th century
- Subjects: exterior, Waterway, Venice, Campo San Zanipolo, Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Scuola di San Marco
- Colour: blue
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1324.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1324/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-campo-di-ss-giovanni-e-paolo-venice-nga-1144).