Claude Monet (1840–1926) visited Venice just once, in the fall of 1908. By then, Venice was already a tourist destination and a favorite subject of countless artists. Monet’s paintings of Venice stand out for their eerily empty cityscapes seen through the city’s shimmering, hazy atmosphere. Many of the sights Monet painted can still be found in Venice today. See Monet’s versions in Monet and Venice, and then visit these sights yourself.

1. Santa Maria della Salute

The Santa Maria della Salute church is one of Venice’s most recognizable landmarks. The Grand Canal, Venice is one of six works Monet painted of the church from the Palazzo Barbaro, where he and his wife, Alice, first stayed when they arrived in the city. Canaletto’s famed painting of this view (1749–1750) is also on view in the exhibition. While Canaletto focused on the building’s rich details, Monet was captivated by the church’s reflection in the water and the surrounding atmosphere. Monet called this hazy atmosphere the enveloppe.

2. San Giorgio Maggiore

In Venice, Monet focused on motifs, painting the same views from the same perspective at the same time of day. This gives the works — and the city — a sense of timelessness. Here, he captures the church of San Giorgio Maggiore in a warm afternoon light, the pinks and yellows playing off the blue of the water and sky. Monet painted six versions of the sight. The view is from his window at the Grand Hotel Britannia.

3. Palazzo Ducale from San Giorgio Maggiore

Monet not only painted the church of San Giorgio Maggiore but also the view from the church. Each morning at 8 am, he’d set up on a platform off the church’s island and paint the view across the lagoon. Specifically, the Palazzo Ducale. You can see the platform in the bottom of this painting. The Palazzo Ducale, once the home of the Doge — the leader of the Venetian Republic — is now a public museum. 

4. Palazzo Ducale from the Grand Canal

Monet painted another view of the Palazzo Ducale from a gondola on the water. He asked the gondoliers to anchor the boat in the same spot each day. This was no easy task, and some days ended in frustration and failure. Painting en plein air (outdoors) on the gondola called back to Monet’s early Impressionist work, when he painted from a “studio boat” along the Seine River. Hire your own gondolier to take you past this legendary locale — just don’t expect them to wait while you paint it!

5. Palazzo Dario

Monet made four paintings of the Palazzo Dario, and it is the subject of the only drawing he made in Venice. Like many Venetian sights Monet painted, it was also the subject of souvenir photographs and postcards. Rather than a postcard, Monet kept one of his own jewel-toned paintings of the Palazzo Dario in his home in Giverny, France, his own keepsake of this time in Venice with Alice. 

6. Rio della Salute

While also painted from a gondola, this view of the Rio della Salute stands out from Monet’s other Venice works. It is one of only two views Monet painted of a smaller canal and the only one featuring greenery. A tree peeks out over the garden wall. It also doesn’t directly feature a landmark, though you can see part of San Gregorio Maggiore in the background.