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Santa Maria della Salute

John Singer Sargent

American Art

Sargent’s underdrawing for the church is meticulously executed in straight ruled graphite lines, whose end points are visible at the bottoms and tops of columns. Horizontal ruled lines of the stairs are visible through the washes of the figures in the boat. In contrast, the boats and figures in the foreground have minimal underdrawing and are rendered in loose, mostly wet washes. Sargent used a sharp tool to scrape off paint and create the squiggly highlights on and around the boats. This is the largest Sargent watercolor in Brooklyn’s collection and the only one both signed and dated by the artist.
MEDIUM Translucent and opaque watercolor and graphite, with graphite underdrawing
DATES 1904
DIMENSIONS 18 3/16 x 22 15/16in. (46.2 x 58.3cm) frame: 33 7/8 x 38 11/16 x 1 3/4 in. (86 x 98.3 x 4.4 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 09.838
CREDIT LINE Purchased by Special Subscription
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION John Singer Sargent (American, born Italy, 1856-1925). Santa Maria della Salute, 1904. Translucent and opaque watercolor and graphite, with graphite underdrawing, 18 3/16 x 22 15/16in. (46.2 x 58.3cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by Special Subscription, 09.838 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 09.838_PS6.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 09.838_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2012
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RIGHTS STATEMENT No known copyright restrictions
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