View of the Sepulchral Monument to Paolo Savelli in the Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa Dei Frari in Venice 1857

Vincenzo Abbati’s painting, *View of the Sepulchral Monument to Paolo Savelli in the Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa Dei Frari in Venice*, captures the cathedral interior with oil on canvas. The composition is structured by a dramatic play of light and shadow, creating a theatrical space of gothic revival architecture. The painting's visual order hinges on its verticality—tall columns draw the eye upward, emphasizing height and grandeur. Abbati uses a checkered floor as a semiotic device, its alternating squares suggesting an unstable ground, a space of shifting perspectives, and the limits of rational perception. The sepulchral monument itself, framed within the architecture, hints at themes of memory and mortality. The muted palette contributes to the somber mood, while the light falling on the monument animates the scene and guides our gaze, inviting us to contemplate the interplay of light and form. This relationship between light and form functions as an ongoing cultural dialogue on perception and representation.