VINCENZO CHILONE
Venice, 1758 – 1839
View of the island of San Giorgio Maggiore
oil on canvas, cm 32×40
The painting depicts a luminous view of the basin of San Marco, in which the complex of San Giorgio Maggiore, after which the island itself is named, stands out in the distance. It is a small canvas, but pleasantly representative of flourishing 18th-century Venetian vedutismo.
Art historian Dario Succi attributes our work to one of the last representatives of Venetian vedutismo, set designer and painter Vincenzo Chilone (Venice, 1758–1839), a follower of Canaletto. After a period of work in Udine, during which Chilone produced three views of Venice (1797) for Palazzo D’Attimis-Morcotti, he returned to Venice, devoting himself to easel painting. The Venetian artist’s various works include two canvases of considerable size: a panoramic view of the Basin of San Marco, now in the Museo Correr, and the Regatta on the Grand Canal (Treves Bonfili collection, Venice), painted to mark the Austrian rulers’ visit to Venice in 1825.
Our painting, “characterised by a detailed description of architectural perspectives and soft lighting,” features various boats with fishermen in the foreground, intent on their work, while the basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore stands out in the background, rich in colour.
Succi places the work around the end of the 18th century, during Chilone’s first period of activity, undoubtedly influenced by the art of Canaletto.