Caprice View with Ruins

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Buy a print or image licence

You can purchase this reproduction

If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

A crumbling, overgrown archway towers above a man and a young child carrying a stick, who are picked out by warm sunlight. The eye is led into the scene by the contrast of light, which illuminates the white stone building beyond, and shade. The use of simple blocks of colour and black lines to suggest architectural details might give the impression that this work was painted quickly on the spot, but it was most likely created in Guardi's studio.This is one of a group of three very small pictures which have been framed together since the early nineteenth century (in another, a stylish couple wander towards a ruined domed building, while the third shows two men standing beside a calm pool and huge archway). Imaginary scenes like this, inspired by the Italian countryside and ancient buildings, were known as capricci, and were bought as souvenirs by visitors to Venice, where Guardi lived and worked.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Caprice View with Ruins

Date

after 1780

Medium

Oil on wood

Measurements

H 10.4 x W 6 cm

Accession number

NG2521.3

Acquisition method

Salting Bequest, 1910

Work type

Painting

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

View venue

Topics