The Grand Canal

Richard Parkes Bonington

National Gallery of Art

We look across a sun-drenched canal lined with boats and cream-white buildings under a vivid blue sky in this horizontal landscape painting. A broad, blue swath of water stretches across the lower third of the picture. White, balconied buildings with terracotta-red tiled roofs face the canal on both sides. Closest to us, to our left, a shallow skiff holds a man in a red cap who holds a large rust-red and white sail stretched out along his boat. Behind him is a cluster of other boats, one with a tall, bare mast and two red-capped sailors. On our right, a partially submerged wooden platform provides a resting spot for three swimmers. Beyond them, the blue canal extends toward a hazy distance, where a white tower points up into white clouds. The canal presumably curves around a corner, because our view is enclosed in the distance by a band of buildings and a bridge, which are loosely painted. A bright blue sky, dotted with wispy white clouds, stretches across the top two-thirds of the scene.