This Giacomo Favretto oil sketch, or “tone notation”, of the highly recognizable Piazza San Marco, was most likely an on location sketch for a larger, more elaborate painting of the same scene.  In his relatively short life (1847 – 1889), Favretto earned quite a reputation in his native country, Italy, for his painting ability.  Surprisingly enough, the Venetian artist is not known as well elsewhere in the world. 

Favretto is frequently regarded as the most representative of the late 1800’s “Realista” school of painters from Venice.  At 31, Favretto’s interior painting, “The Mouse”, (where the viewer can vividly imagine the high pitched squeals of the women as they jump on any available furniture to avoid a mouse) brought him to national fame during the Brera Exhibition in Milan (1878). 

During 1864 – 1875, Giacomo Favretto studied at the Venetian Accademia, where he was awarded the majority of prizes.  As was the Venetian School's, Favretto’s focus was on capturing color and light.  While he obviously studied the masters of Venice, he studied directly under Michelangelo Grigoletti and Pompeo Marino Molmenti.