J.M.W.Turner: In Venice

Doganno san Giorgio Citella

WE presume, from the position in which we see the Dogana, that the view is supposed to be taken from the Grand Canal, looking across the Giudecca to the Island of S. Giorgio Maggiore with its church: but, if so, we do not understand how the Campanile has got into the position assigned to it. But the topography of Venice is difficult, and after looking at two or three of Turner's pictures of this his favourite city. it becomes more puzzling than ever, for not only does he alter the size and shape of the buildings to suit the convenience of his composition, but he roots them up from one place and plants them in another. But there is one advantage of Turner's Venice or Venice's not enjoyed by the real city, and that is that it is unvarying beautiful from whatever point of view he chooses to paint it—a rule to which this charming picture is no exception. The wide expanse of the water at the meeting of the different canals is finely broken up with boats, and it would be a pity to pass by this engraving without noting the pretty little dogs introduced on the steps on the right in the foreground.