Il Molo

The view from the Molo - the quay at San Marco's opening onto the mouth of the Grand Canal - across to Santa Maria della Salute.

It is, of course, impossible to make etchings of Venetian subjects without evoking Whistler. But where his etchings were animated with a fairy-like lightness of touch, here I was aiming for a heavy, almost claustrophobic atmosphere.

I chopped off the top of Salute and reduced its gleaming marble to a slab of grey. The unified colour tone is achieved with a technique called chine colle; during the printing process, a layer of hand-tinted Japanese tissue lies between the plate and the heavier European paper. The pressure of the press impresses the image through the tissue onto the heavier sheet.