In 1956, the artist Porfiry Nikitich Krylov visited Venice for the first time when the Kukryniksy artistic group was invited to the Venice Biennale. The Soviet artists presented their works made during the war. The artists garnered international recognition for these works and later took part in the exhibition two more times — in 1958 and 1960.
For 30 years Krylov painted European landscapes, among which those of Italy occupy a special place. Venice captivated Porfiry Krylov with its exquisite beauty, grace and unique way of life. The artist dedicated many works from his Italian series to this city. One of them is called “Venice, The Grand Canal”.
The landscape was painted in 1974 and conveys the timeless atmosphere of the city where Titian, Veronese, Vivaldi, Goldoni, Bellini, Gozzi, Carpaccio lived and worked. The artist’s gaze is turned to the Venetian Grand Canal, the main waterway of the city. The length of the canal is almost four kilometers, it runs through the whole of Venice, winding in the shape of the letter S. Water buses — vaporettos — and, of course, gondolas course through the Grand Canal.
The Grand Canal has almost no embankments, they are replaced by facades of houses that are built on stilts and have two entrances — from land and water. In the distance, one can see the snow-white majestic dome of the church of Santa Maria della Salute, which opens the entrance to the Grand Canal from the Venetian Lagoon. The church was built in the 17th century as a sign of gratitude to the Virgin Mary for ridding the city of the most terrible scourge — the plague.
One day, when Porfiry Krylov was engrossed in the creation of another Venetian landscape, something unexpected happened which the artist later liked to recall. He left an entry about it in his diary:
