Finally, Sargent’s The Salute, Venice (1909) demonstrates Sargent’s use of his most powerful perspective, the lone close-up of the Salute’s roof, in order to combine architectural detail with the qualities of a portrait. His attention to every curve and statue highlights the influence of his portrait style in order to express the magnitude of its presence. Rather than seeing it as a fragment, Margarette Lovell explains that “the artist appropriates the structure anew” and that “the artwork then is absolute and independent; it is replete with its own and not with borrowed resonance” (Lovell 97-98). In laymen’s terms, Sargent attributes his own value of the Salute’s worth without having to depict the entire church. He captures the “everyday character” of the church as he would for any person. Even though it is only a small portion of the church, Sargent’s watercolor conveys a huge presence amidst the blue sky and voices the grandeur and timelessness of Venice. Consequently, it makes sense that this piece was painted towards the end of the series because Sargent has finally achieved the goal of lauding his beloved city. The respect and honor he holds for the city is captured in this image of a fraction of a building, and it is wholly appropriate that he ends his series with this final “salute” to Venice. This latest perspective of the close-up is a great testament to Sargent as a portraitist of buildings in that he pays tribute to Venice’s entire splendor while also expressing a feeling of nostalgia for an unchanging Venice.
Sargent, John Singer. The Salute, Venice. 1909. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut.
