Gezicht op het San Marcoplein 1647

Israel Silvestre made this print of the San Marco square in Venice. Though undated, we can place it in the mid-17th century, when Venice was a major center for trade and tourism. This image creates meaning through the use of visual codes that would have been easily understood at the time. The composition emphasizes the grandeur of the Doge's Palace, a symbol of Venetian power and wealth. The inclusion of figures in the foreground, casually going about their business, highlights the square's function as a public space, where people from different social classes mingled. As historians, we might want to learn more about the artist’s patrons to understand the economic structures that allowed him to make this image. We might also ask what other kinds of images of Venice were circulating at this time, and what they tell us about Venice's self-image. We look at art as something contingent on social and institutional context.