Dogana and Santa Maria della Salute by William Turner

You can already tell from the title of the painting that this painting is dedicated to the city of Venice.

The actual setting is the church of Santa Maria della Salute which is situated at the interior further from the Dogana.

The Zecca (aka the Mint) is on the right of the church and the Guidecca lies on the left. He'd completed it in 1843.

The church is seen close to the background, and in front of is some cloudy mist which gives a fuzzy effect so that you can't completely see the church but you can totally imagine.

He used luminous colours, kind of bright particularly colour white, as if to suggest that the mood around there was peaceful and calm.

Around the church are some carelessly stroked buildings which, as usual, are not well defined and, as usual, a lot is left to the imagination.

In blunt strokes, you can make out some images of ferries in the foreground, light and dark-brown shades, that is apparently still the mode of transport used to travel to and fro the banks.

The Dogana and Santa Maria della Salute was bought many times, at an on and off auction. It was first sold in 1843 at Royal Academy for 2.688 pounds, then sold again in July 1927 for a huge chunk of around 30 pounds.

It went around a couple more rounds before finally holding the record till 1966 for the highest sold painting.

Turner is known for his abstract paintings, in that, you can't quite point what it is about a painting, instead, you create all sorts of imagination with the little he has put on the table for you.

He always makes it blurry, mashing up different shades of light and dull colours to create the desired mood effect. He always used incidents relating to human activities e.g. ships, landscapes and bring out nature from it which revolves around his theme of work e.g. sunsets, clouds.

The effect of his work, such as the above, remains locked in the minds of many and is the source of inspiration to many artists today.

His piece that was most celebrated was Slave Ship, it was a great source of encouragement. One that made him to be recognised by the Bank of England. To acknowledge his talent and hard-work, he is to be made the face of the next 20 pound note.