The Rialto, from the "Second Venice Set," or the "Twenty-six Etchings" / James McNeill Whistler
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1993/2.3
- Title
- The Rialto, from the "Second Venice Set," or the "Twenty-six Etchings"
- Artist
- James McNeill Whistler
- Artist Nationality
- American
- Artist Life Dates
- 1834-1903
- Medium and Support
- etching and drypoint, printed in black ink on Asian laid paper
- Object Creation Date
- 1879-1880
- Object Creation Place
- North and Central America (continent)
- United States (nation)
- Creation Place 1
- North and Central America (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- United States (nation)
- Credit Line
- Gift of the Friends of the Museum of Art on the Occasion of their Twenty-fifth Anniversary
- Inscription
- Signed in pencil, on tab: butterfly and "imp"
- Dimensions
- 22.8 cm x 20.9 cm (9 in. x 8 1/4 in.)
- Century
- 19th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Physical Description
- The corner of a massive building with awnings on both sides is seen on the right side; it has arched windows above the street level windows and several stories with balconies above. To the left is a long sloping stairway with awnings projecting above the stairway. In the distance beyond the stairway can be see the tower of a church. Buildings at the far left of the composition are barely indicated. Pediestrians are visible throughout, adjacent to the buildings on either side as well as ascending the stairs.
- Subject Matter
- Whistler's choice for subjects while in Venice rarely included the major monuments, familiar through the work of artists from Canaletto and Guardi to Turner earlier in the century. Here, the famed Rialto Bridge that crosses the Grand Canal is not shown in its immediately recognizable view spanning the water, but from the side of the bridge, showing the stairs that allow pedestrians to cross the Grand Canal. This disoriented vantage point is further heightened by the elevated position that opens up an undescribed passage at the bottom of the image.
- Whistler wrote to his mother from Venice saying how he had "discovered a Venice within Venice that others never seem to have perceived." This etching of Venice's most famous bridge illustrates Whistler's penchant for finding subjects along back canals and in otherwise unexplored views.
- Primary Keywords
- artists
- child
- children (people by age group)
- figures
- figures (representations)
- half-length
- portraits
- rialto bridge
- saint
- standing
- venice
- venice (inhabited place)
- Secondary Keywords
- architecture
- bridges
- europe
- europe (continent)
- geographic and political locations
- italy
- italy (nation)
- locality
- objects we use
- people
- people (agents)
- people and culture
- people and occupations
- people by age group
- people by occupation
- people by state or condition
- people in the arts
- people in the arts and related occupations
- people in the humanities
- people in the visual arts
- people in the visual arts and related occupations
- physical activities
- physical activities by general context
- religious figures
- veneto (region)
- venezia (province)
- visual works
- visual works by subject type
- youth
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 835 x 1108
- File Size
- 63 KB
- Record
- 1993/2.3
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1993-sl-2.3/1993_2.3.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1993-SL-2.3:1993_2.3.JPG
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
-
"The Rialto, from the "Second Venice Set," or the "Twenty-six Etchings"; James McNeill Whistler." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1993-sl-2.3/1993_2.3.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 15, 2024.