The Doge's Palace Seen from San Giorgio Maggiore (Claude Monet)

Monet created this work during his visit to Venice in late 1908. He returned to his home in France with many paintings incomplete, and he took a few years to prepare 29 works for exhibition. In 1912 he held a successful show Claude Monet Venise at the gallery Bernheim-Jeune in Paris.[1]

Six of these paintings were created in order to capture the different light effects created throughout the day. Monet often made multiple copies of the same work of art; this process is better known as series painting. His series paintings originated in his early career when he and other impressionists became interested in en plein air and were inspired by the effects of changing light.

The Doge's Palace was done later in his career after he had already established his artistic style, however this work is considered less successful because of the little time he spent in Venice and that he had to finish the series by memory later in Paris.[3]

The Doge's Palace is made with oil on canvas and its dimensions are 25 3/4 x 36 1/2 inches.

This work depicts the Doge's Palace, an iconic landmark of Venice and the historic seat of government of the Republic of Venice, along with buildings of the Riva degli Schiavoni waterfront. The scene is viewed from the island of San Giorgio Maggiore.

Although Monet spent little time in Venice, works that he started in Venice, such as The Doge's Palace, are some of his most highly regarded artworks. These paintings capture his signature style and influence from the effervescent Venetian sunset. After this painting was exhibited in Paris in 1912 it went on to travel the world, and has now made a permanent home at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, N.Y.

• 
  Version in the Kunsthaus Zürich, W1751
• 
  Version in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum