Ramon Tusquets Maignon (Barcellona, 1837 – Roma, 1904)

Ramon Tusquets Maignon (Barcelona, 1837 - Rome, 1904)

Interior of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice

Oil on canvas, 86.5 x 69

With frame cm 99 x 81

Signed in the lower left

The work in question depicts the interior of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice, in particular the painter retakes with a suggestive diagonal view the transept of the left side aisle, where the image of the Madonna is recognized as 'of the Butte'.  On the corner pillar of the transept on the left in the current basilica there is the marble relief of the Virgin of the Butte from the 13th century. The rifle placed next to the Madonna was offered by some Venetian Navy soldiers who were unharmed by the explosion of an Austrian bomb at Forte Marghera on 10 May 1849. As the canvas lacks such detail, this date results in an ante quem to establish the timeline of the painting.

The Basilica, cathedral of the city, is not only the most important church in Venice but a symbol of the city and its secular history, as well as representing one of the highest points in the history of western architecture, United, for its Venetian mercantile position and its marked internationality, to oriental influences. The history of the Basilica of San Marco begins in 828 when the eleventh doge, Giustiniano Partecipazio, decided to build a church next to the ducal palace, in honor of San Marco, replacing the palatine chapel dedicated to San Teodoro. The fire caused by some rioters in 976 destroyed the building, so in 978 it was rebuilt by the doge. The present structure dates back to the 11th century. It was started by the doge Domenico Contarini in 1063, carried on by his successor Domenico Selvo and consecrated in 1094. After a fire in 1231 and further renovation work the basilica was completed only in 1617. For the succession of works and the mixture of influences present it is difficult to define a style but it is necessary to consider the different influences, Romanesque, Gothic and Byzantine, here, not placed in antithesis but inserted in a cultural koinè, with an exceptional result. The structure of the church is defined on a plan with a Greek cross with five domes distributed in the center and along the axes of the cross, from the construction in perforated bricks, light, not to burden weight on the ground of the lagoon, connected by vaults barrel. The aisles, three per arm, are divided by colonnades that converge towards the massive pillars supporting the domes; they are not made as a single block of masonry but articulated in turn like the main module: four supports at the vertices of a square. The canvas under examination manages to capture with skill and deep analytical attention the main elements of the basilica defining its structure as the pictorial decoration, allowing us, even more than a photo, to admire the basilica with the eyes of a visitor from the 19th century. The hand of the painter, fascinated and impressed, as we are today by the grandeur of the basilica and the quality of its decoration, observes with careful eyes every detail, returning to the canvas a subject of timeless charm, cared for in every detail, able to convey the atmospheric sensation of light i San Marco, dim, delicate, in contrast with the gold of the mosaics. The presence of some visitors, friars or people in prayer enriches and enlivens the work, leaving an image of everyday life of the most famous monument of the city of Venice.

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