Venise, San Giorgio

Look closely and you can spot the famous bell tower of St Mark's Square rising above the rooftops of Venice. Eugène Boudin painted this scene in 1895, capturing the city's busy lagoon with little gondolas gliding across the water and figures gathered along the shore. The whole picture has a soft, sketchy quality, as if Boudin worked quickly to catch the feeling of the moment rather than every tiny detail.

Boudin was a French painter best known for his skies, and you can see why here. Those big, cloudy heavens take up nearly half the canvas, painted in loose strokes of grey, white, and blue. He once earned the nickname "king of the skies" from his friend, the poet Charles Baudelaire, and the painter Claude Monet, whom Boudin taught as a young man, called him a key influence on his own work. That connection makes Boudin an important bridge to the Impressionist movement that would soon change art forever.

Painted late in his life, this view of Venice shows an artist still drawn to open air, shimmering light, and the gentle dance between water and sky. It is a quiet, honest snapshot of a city that has charmed painters for centuries.