Venice was the place John Singer Sargent loved most and the Lagoon City has decided to repay the compliment with a spectacular exhibition of the American artist's work.
The artist visited Venice over 10 times between 1879 and 1913 and he made its palaces, churches, squares and canals the stars of around 150 paintings.
Around 60 of those will be on display at Sargent and Venice, which runs at the Museo Correr until July 22.
Much of the artwork has been loaned by top institutions like New York's Adelson Galleries, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, London's Royal Academy of Arts and Madrid's Thyssen-Bornemisza.
There are also a number of loans from private collections. Some of these works are going on public display for the first time.
The city's famous monuments, such as the Rialto Bridge, the Doge's Palace and the Church of the Salute, play a prominent role in his work.
Sargent often painted these monuments from the low-vantage point of a gondola to create unusual views that re-create the atmosphere of a ride along the Grand Canal.
One of the highlights is a watercolour entitled Gondolas Off San Giorgio Maggiore.
Painted circa 1902-3, it shows how Sargent sometimes used Impressionistic techniques to great effect, even though he is not usually considered an Impressionist artist.
Sargent also captured the daily life of Venice during his visits - the insides of its workshops, its crowded streets, Venetian women at work and the city's busy cafés.
These pictures demonstrate the overwhelming sense of air, light, freshness and fluidity he gave his work.
Sargent (1856-1925) was born in Florence to wealthy American expatriates.
His father, Fitzwilliam Sargent, was a surgeon. His mother, Mary Newbold Singer, had a passion for culture and played a key role in nurturing the young artist's budding talent.
Sargent spent his childhood between Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland and Germany. These formative years provided him with a wealth inspiration for his art.
In 1874 Sargent's father recognised his son's talent and sent him to Paris to take an apprenticeship with the Parisian portrait painter Carolus-Duran.
From there he went to Spain to study Velasquez's work before returning to Paris.
In 1884 he was forced to move from France to London after his Portrait of Madame X - a daring, bare-shouldered portrait of a 23-year-old American woman, Virginie Gautreau - scandalised Paris's artistic establishment.
In London his career took off and he quickly became the leading portrait artist of his era.
In the 1880s he started to paint landscapes and he developed a friendship with the French master Claude Monet, who became a major influence.
Sargent and Venice was curated by Warren Adelson, one of the world's top experts on the artist and the president of Adelson Galleries.
