Francesco Guardi - Miracle of a Dominican saint

• Title: Miracle of a Dominican saint (Miracolul Sf. Duminici)
• Artist: Francesco Guardi (1712-1793)
• Date: 1763
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 122 × 172 cm

“The miracle of a Dominican saint” was completed slightly after the death of Francesco Guardi’s brother, Gian Antonio, with whom he had painted religious paintings. Francesco Guardi then changed the focus of his paintings to historical events of Venice and cityscapes (vedute genre) of Venice, influenced by Canaletto’s works and success.

It is uncertain what event is represented in this painting. A Dominican friar, recognizable because of the white robe with a black cape, is walking on water while pulling out a man drowning like several others. Their hats and walking sticks suggest they might be pilgrims who fell in the water because a bridge collapsed. However a sunken ship might also be involved- is that a broken mast and a sail on the left? If it is, the painting might represent a miracle by Saint Dominic himself who is said in 1211 to have saved English pilgrims on their way to Compostela when their boat capsized while crossing the River Garonne.

The theme is religious, typical of the Baroque era yet the style is more loose and dramatic, it is Romanticism- dramatization of despair versus hope, the loose brushstroke, the ragged clothes, and the expressions on the faces. There is a bit of “The medusa raft” in this work.