In the foreground, among the reflections of the water coloured by the multicoloured facades of the Venetian palaces, three black gondolas stand out on the water and seem to be dancing in front of the palaces of the Grand Canal, which serve as a background for the painting. On the left, an inhabited landing stage is decorated with orange lanterns hanging on a foliage architecture.

The artist has concentrated the warm glowing colours on the façades. Luminous reflections in cooler tones cover the surface of the Grand Canal like a silky fabric by Mariano Fortuny. The black gondolas, the only exaggeratedly curved forms in the work, seem to want to play with the vertical walls of the façades and the horizontal plane of the water.

Constructed with the colours of the Italian and Venetian flags, this painting depicts the lightness of the gondolas of Venice at the heart of the spectacle of the city, admired by tourists and Venetians massed on the landing stage or on the back deck of a vaporetto.