The Piazza San Marco, Venice, looking east towards the Basilica and the Torre dell’Orologio

Paintings of Piazza San Marco, perhaps the most celebrated of Venice's views, emerged from the studios of Marieschi and his contemporaries at a rapid pace to meet the demands of travellers shopping for souvenirs. The present composition, however, includes what appears to be a very rare and curious addition; the arrangement of chairs in two long, parallel rows, extending down the right-hand side of the piazza. We are grateful to Rossella Granziero and Alberto Craievich for recognising that their significance may be found in the writings of renowned Venetian scholar, Giuseppe Tassini (1827-1899), who dedicated his life to the history, topography and toponymy of his birthplace. In his Feste, spettacoli, divertimenti e piaceri degli antichi Veneziani of 1891, he records the various amusements and entertainments that Venetians past and present enjoyed, and in his chapter on Passeggi (Walks), he writes of an ancient tradition recorded in legend: a winter walk around Campo San Stefano, with rows of seats laid out. It later moved to Piazza San Marco, where similar rows would be arranged, and participants could pay five soldi for their use. The timing of the Feast of San Stefano, which falls on 26th December, may play a part in the slightly pale, almost silver light that falls across the piazza and its cloaked inhabitants.

'Leggesi nelle cronache che uno degli antichi passeggi nella stagione invernale era quello del Campo di S. Stefano, e che appellavasi listone perché facevasi sopra una lista selciata del campo, ancora nell’altre parti ricoperto dall’erba. Per godere del passeggio suddetto, assai frequentato, specialmente di carnovale, e solito a fervere verso il finire della giornata, disponevansi, quinci e quindi, alcuni ordini di sedili. Esso, col progredire del tempo, trasportossi in Piazza di S. Marco, dove pure havvi memoria di sedie collocate a modo degli accorrenti, colla spesa di cinque soldi per una.' (G. Tassini, Feste, spettacoli, divertimenti e piaceri degli antichi Veneziani, 1891, pp. 168-9.)