The courtyard of the Doge's Palace, Venice, looking North

This view of the courtyard of the Doge's Palace was one of the favourite subjects of Michele Marieschi, whose wife married Francesco Albotto after the former's death. The subject had been treated in engravings by Luca Carlevarijs, in his Fabriche e vedute di Venetia... (1703), and by Domenico Lovisa, in his Gran Teatro di Venezia... (1720). It is one of the few significant Venetian views that did not become part of the standard repertoire of Canaletto, who only executed one small picture of it late in his career. The style of the present picture can be compared to that of Albotto who worked in Marieschi's studio. The composition was probably inspired by Marieschi's engraving of the view from a slightly different viewpoint, published in his Magnificentoire Selectoresque Urbis Venetiarum Prospectus (1741).