Claude Monet’s only visit to Venice, in the autumn of 1908, was made late in his life, and it was to be his last working trip away from France. He had never planned to visit the city, believing that it had been painted by far too many artists and that there would be nothing new to record.  Reluctant to leave his studio at Giverny, he was persuaded by his wife Alice to accept an invitation to stay for a fortnight at Palazzo Barbaro on the Grand Canal.  Once in Venice, he painted every day, staying much longer than planned; and his intensive work resulted in a series of canvases of the city that are among the best known of his art works. Sarah Quill tells the story in this illustrated lecture.