Farewell to Venice 1925

Here we have James McBey’s etching, showing a Venetian gondola gliding through the lagoon. The gondola itself, with its characteristic shape and the gondolier’s posture, immediately evoke Venice, a city steeped in history. The gondola's form can be traced back through centuries, evolving from simple boats to symbols of Venetian identity. We see similar vessels in Canaletto’s bustling scenes and even further back in Byzantine depictions of watercraft, each carrying not just people, but also the weight of history and memory. This motif echoes in the funerary processions of ancient cultures, where boats carried souls to the afterlife. The image conveys a sense of melancholy and departure. This archetype has been used in art across time, where the boat symbolizes a passage from one state to another. McBey’s image taps into this collective consciousness, reminding us of our own transient existence and the bittersweet nature of farewells. This image captures the cyclical nature of departures and returns in the human experience.