In contrast to the 18th-century vedutisti painters (Canaletto, Guardi and others) who capture images of Venice down to the last detail, Sargent imparts an evanescent place, where shimmeringlight constantly changes not just the water but even the supposedly immobile structures.
Its exuberantly curved and canted abstract shapes covered in softly gleaming sheets of silvery titanium are anchored to the earth by warm beige Spanish limestone, their shimmering surfaces changing color magically with the light and weather.