Venice, the Grand Canal

At the right-hand end of this long, low strip stands the Dogana da Mar, where goods arriving by sea were taxed, on the point where the Grand Canal meets the Giudecca canal. It was built between 1678 and 1682. On its tower two bronze figures of Atlas hold up a golden globe, and on the globe balances Fortune, a weathervane that turns with the wind. Corot gives her as a small dark flicker against the pale sky. Across the water rise the bell tower and dome of San Giorgio Maggiore, a gondola glides past at the left, and sailing boats lie at anchor. The canvas is 25 centimetres high and more than a metre long, a shape set by its place in the bathroom Corot decorated for a friend at Mantes. Since 2009 the old building has held a museum of contemporary art.