St. Mark's Square, Venice, with Loggetta

William Wyld

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This lively watercolor unites several famous Venetian landmarks. Centered on the Campanile sitting over Sansovino's Loggetta, the view is framed at left and right by the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Cathedral, and enlivened by strolling clerics and lounging peddlers. Born in London, Wyld became secretary to the British Consul in Calais around 1826, then decided to pursue art after taking watercolor lessons from Louis François Thomas Francia, and becoming friends with Richard Bonington. By 1831 he was exhibiting watercolors at the Salon, then traveled to Algeria via Italy in 1833 where he likely sketched this subject. Back in Paris, Wyld established a reputation with cityscapes in oil and watercolor and had particular success with his Venetian views. In 1855 he was awarded the Legion of Honor for encouraging the development of watercolor painting in France.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art