Terminal Ornament

This brilliantly colored image of the famous façade of Saint Mark's is one of Vail's best-known works. The large canvas demonstrates the dramatic change after the turn of the century in both his subject matter and style, away from the somber figure subjects that had reflected his Parisian academic training. The artist has manipulated the composition to emphasize those elements he found to be most visually dynamic. The enormous flags play as prominent a role in the image as the landmark cathedral itself. The artist later commented, in fact, that the flags, their volume and their movement, were the actual subject of the painting.