This is a view of the Santa Maria della Salute from the Riva degli Schiavoni in Venice, Italy, during Carnival. Susan always wanted to go to Carnivale in Venice, and one year, Easter was very early, so we could arrange Carnival in our schedule. We were staying in a hotel right on the Riva degli Schiavoni, recommended by a friend and neighbor in Cape May. Every morning, we’d go walking in our costumes, attracting lots of attention and having hundreds of Japanese tourists take their pictures with us. I went as a giant Turk and Susan went as an eighteenth century Frenchwoman.
My aim in this painting was to convey the crush of the crowd on the Riva degli Schiavoni and the other-worldliness of the pink light shining on the dome of the Salute. I used much more linseed oil than usual to make a rich, fat paint to carry intense color.
36”w x 24” h
Oil on canvas
$950.