Nocturne: San Giorgio, like the closely related drawing Venice (see F1893.26), is a view from the Riva degli Schiavoni looking south to the church of San Giorgio Maggiore. When it was shown at the Fine Art Society in London in January 1881, a satirical review in the magazine Punch made fun on the gondolas in the foreground. Caricaturing the drawing as "Nocturne at a Hotel," Punch described it as showing "curious specimens of shoes left outside the bedroom doors to be cleaned."