Antonio Maria de Reyna Manescau (1859-1937)

A premier creator of painted views of the immortal city of canals, Antonio Maria de Reyna Manescau began life and his artistic passion in Malaga, studying at the Spanish city's School of Fine Art. Encouraged to study abroad, he arrived in Rome and traveled on to Venice as early as 1876, and immediately began a lifelong effort to capture the canaled city's topical landscapes.

The architectural of Venice highlights the career works of Reyna. Often the Basillica at San Marcos, the Santa Maria della Salute, or other prominent landmarks are portrayed by this artist, and it is pleasant to note that his views of the remote backwaters and unique spots of the Italian City-State are given equal importance and weight by this artist.

Reyna painted with a critical focus for accurate proportions and colorful, vibrant subjects in his works. More often they are traditional horizontal presentations with a ratio of greater than two-to-one in width to height, focusing the views into panoramic scenes of vast distance and close detail combined. Reyna highlighted his career by exhibiting works with the National Society of Fine Art in Paris in 1887, and at a large exposition at the National University of Rome in 1911.