Artwork
Alighting from a Gondola in Venice
Alighting from a Gondola in Venice is an oil painting by the Realist artist Wilhelm Marstrand. It dates from 1854 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1854 by Danish painter Wilhelm Marstrand, *Alighting from a Gondola in Venice* is an oil on canvas that captures a moment on the Grand Canal. The composition presents a group of travelers disembarking from a gondola onto a stone quay, framed by the characteristic red‑tiled façades of Venetian architecture under a light blue sky.
Subject & Meaning
The work portrays a genre scene of everyday life, focusing on the interaction of figures dressed in mid‑nineteenth‑century attire as they step onto the dock. Their gestures and glances suggest a casual social encounter, offering a glimpse into the leisurely travel culture of the period and the romantic allure that Venice held for Northern European visitors.
Technique & Style
Executed in a realist manner, Marstrand employs meticulous brushwork to render the textures of stone, water, and fabric. The palette balances warm earth tones of the buildings with the cool blues of the canal and sky, while careful attention to light and shadow gives the scene a tangible three‑dimensionality typical of the Danish Golden Age of painting.
History & Provenance
Since its completion, the canvas has remained within the public domain, becoming part of the collection of Denmark’s Statens Museum for Kunst. The museum acquired the piece as a representative example of Marstrand’s travel‑inspired oeuvre, preserving it as evidence of the cross‑cultural artistic exchanges between Denmark and Italy in the mid‑1800s.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Nicolai Wilhelm Marstrand (24 December 1810 – 25 March 1873), painter and illustrator, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Nicolai Jacob Marstrand, instrument maker and inventor, and Petra Othilia Smith.
