View of the Piazza San Marco (Primary Title)
Piazza San Marco (Former Title)

The Piazza San Marco (or Saint Mark’s Square) had been Venice’s political and religious center since before the Middle Ages. The painter’s east-facing perspective includes the monuments that enclose the square on three sides. Its eastern end is dominated by Saint Mark’s Basilica, a cathedral church built in the Byzantine period to serve as the state sanctuary and site of official religious and civic ceremonies. The basilica was attached to the Doge’s Palace, depicted to its right. Obscuring the gothic-style facade of the palace is the freestanding tower of the campanile, a bell tower that had stood in the piazza since the 12th century. The three-story arcades of the Procuratie Vecchie and Procuratie Nuove (the old and new procuracies, respectively) extend along the north and south sides of the square. These were the offices and residences of high officers of state in the days of the republic. Fashionably dressed members of the city’s upper class stroll around the square, enjoying the fine weather of a late afternoon. This seat of Venice’s ruling elite contrasts with the mixing of social classes in Guardi’s canal views.