Grand Canal, Venice

1. 1

   What is written

   Begun on the landing of the Palazzo Barbaro in the first half of October 1908, looking across the Grand Canal to the Salute, and finished in Monet’s studio by 1912.

   • where he set up his easel during the first half of OctoberSotheby’s London, 2015, lot 15, on the six views of the Salute from the Barbaro steps
   • Full of enthusiasm thanks to the fine weather, he started new canvases every day.imagesofvenice.com, summarising Alice Monet’s letters
   • Several days of rainy, cold and windy weather infuriated Monet and relegated him to inactivity.imagesofvenice.com, the same page
2. 2

   Records of those days

   • The Seminario Patriarcale observatoryDaily rain, temperature, wind and cloud, read at 9:00, 15:00 and 21:00 on a terrace between the Salute and the Punta della Dogana, inside the painted view.
   • Istituto Veneto station historyThe 1900–2000 file combines the Seminario record, which ended in 1951, with observations at the nearby Cavanis site from 1959. Cross-century ranks and the 1961–1990 reference are descriptive summaries of that combined series; site continuity and homogenization have not been established here.

   Not found or not yet searched

   • Alice Monet’s letters are quoted here only through a secondary summary; the letters themselves are in Philippe Piguet, Monet et Venise (1986), not openly available.
   • The Gazzetta di Venezia printed a daily weather bulletin with the tide; its tables have not been keyed.
   • No 1991–2020 reference is available in the file, which ends in 2000. The 1961–1990 comparison comes from its later station history, not the same observing terrace as 1908.
3. 3

   Each claim tested

   • “the fine weather”, of the weeks after the move to the Grand Hotel Britannia in mid-October. No rain fell at the observatory from 1 to 19 October 1908. It rained 17.4 and 30.3 mm on 24 and 25 October.
   • “Several days of rainy, cold and windy weather”, undated in the source. 7 to 10 November: overcast, north-east winds to 30 km/h, afternoon highs of 6 to 7.5 °C, rain on the 8th and 9th.
   • The day painted. The first half of October, probably in the afternoon; the canvas was also reworked in the studio until 1912.
4. 4

   Verdict

   Monet’s view of the Salute was painted in a rainless first half of October: mild, dry afternoons under broken cloud, seen by an observatory that stood inside the picture.

   • Partially agrees“the fine weather” Dry for nineteen days at a gauge inside the view; “fine” also implies sun, and afternoon cloud ranged from clear to overcast.
   • Partially agrees“rainy, cold and windy weather” Such days are on the record in early November, but the secondary source gives no date to test against.
   • UnknownThe day painted No session is dated, and the canvas was finished in the studio years later.

What this cannot tell you. The letters are known here only through a secondary summary. The canvas was reworked at Giverny until 1912; its light may not be one October afternoon. Cloud amounts are an observer’s estimate in tenths of the sky. The 1900–2000 file combines the Seminario record, which ended in 1951, with observations at the nearby Cavanis site from 1959. Cross-century ranks and the 1961–1990 reference are descriptive summaries of that combined series; site continuity and homogenization have not been established here.