When I think of Venice, setting for my novel The Echoes of Love, I always think of two things: art and water. Venice has long been an important focus in the art world, especially during the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque; it even boasted its own unique style known as the Venetian School, whose major artists were Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese and the Bassano. And, of course, Venice is the city of waterways, home to the iconic gondola.

Today I am sharing with you ten of my favourite depictions of the city I love so well with a focus on the waterscape. Which painting most inspires you and makes you want to travel to Venice?

1. Monet’s Le Grand Canal (1908)

I love the dreamy quality to this work. The founder of French Impressionist painting created this while on a three-month trip to Venice in 1908. It was first exhibited in 1911 in a show dedicated to the 37 paintings he completed with the city as subject. Next month this painting will be auctioned by Sotheby’s, and it is estimated to sell for between £20and £30 million.

2. Turner’s Venice, from the Porch of Madonna dellaSalute  (1835)

The buildings seem to melt into the water here. Turner was a Romanticist landscape painter, and what better landscape for a Romanticist than Venice! He travelled widely in Europe, and went to Venice several times. He first exhibited this oil painting at the Royal Academy, London, to great acclaim. It’s now on show at the Met.

3. John Singer Sargent, Ponte San Giuseppe di Castello (1903)

Sargent travelled extensively, and found inspiration in Venice from the artists of the city. ‘I have learned in Venice to admire Tintoretto immensely and to consider him perhaps second only to Michelangelo and Titian,’ he wrote after one visit. He painted hundreds of watercolours of Venice that, like this one, are wonderfully vivid.

4. Paul Signac’s The Lagoon of Saint Mark, Venice (1905)

This painting, by one of the most influential Neo-Impressionist painters, is heralded as a superb example of pointillism and color theory experimentation. Signac wrote, ‘It is through the harmonies of lines and of colors…not through the subject that the painter ought to stir the emotions.’ In this painting, I think he achieves just that. You can find the original at the the Chrysler Museum of Art.

5. Canaletto’s The Molo, Seen from the San Marco Basin, 1730

Canaletto loved this view so much that he painted ten versions of this work.I love the sense of light in the scene, and the realism, plus the inclusion of the iconic San Marco Basilica and Campanile. The painting is part of the permanent collection at the Louvre, Paris. I have seen it there, and I found it very moving.