Canaletto was one of the most influential Venetian artists of the eighteenth century. He sought to entertain his clients and to improve his compositions by creating spaces that were inspired by places that actually existed but were better than reality. Over the course of his career, he became more and more experimental with architectural structures, skewing and combining perspectives, and bringing diverse buildings and scenes together into one composition in an original way. He is most recognized for what making choices about what to include and not include within his countless drawings and paintings and for the imagination and inspiration that his compositions required. He served as a powerful advocate on behalf of Venice as he catered to Grand Tourists, who took his paintings back to their homes, and thus promoted interest and curiosity about his city. When he lived in England he took his art and style north with him, and also learned from and was influenced by British contemporaries. Though his style became somewhat formulaic in England as he painted works that appealed to the tastes of his patrons, he regained his dramatic and original style again after his return to Venice.  When he died of a fever on April 19, 1768, he left behind an outstanding legacy of beautiful masterworks and ingenuously inventive compositions.  Many other artists tried to equal his achievement and drew their inspiration from Venice and Italy, but no one reached the perfection of Canaletto’s views and capricci and no one has ever surpassed him as the great artist of the Venetian veduta.

Canaletto traveled back to Venice for short visits in 1751 and 1753, and finally returned there from England for good in 1755. By the time he returned, his nephew Bellotto was making a name for himself, and Francesco Guardi (1712-1793) was also gaining popularity as a view painter. When exactly he painted Piazza San Marco: Looking South-West (Fig. 18) is not known, but it probably was after 1755 and was likely an attempt to impress the Venetian Academy of Fine Art.[1] What is different about this painting in comparison to his other fantastic pictures, is that he is using a “fish-eye” effect in order to compress a very broad panorama into a single view. The scene stretches from the Palazzo Ducale and San Marco at the left to the Procuratie Vecchie at the right.[2] It is most likely that Canaletto used a lens to accurately show the distortion of space and the buildings in it.[3] The cluster of vertical, diagonal, and horizontal lines creates a stable composition, and the colors he uses are still bright, as the figures and architecture are flooded with sunlight.

In the late 1750s, Canaletto painted Piazza San Marco: Looking East from the North-West Corner (Fig. 19), which compares most closely to his painting of the Westminster Bridge (Fig. 13) from his trip to London.[4] He employs the same technique of framing the foreground with an overhanging arch, so that the main subject of the scene in the distance can be seen through its rounded form. Because Canaletto has purposely darkened the foreground, the viewer’s attention is drawn to the sunlit space beyond. He has chosen to feature San Marco without the flagstaffs that would normally be seen, in order to place full emphasis on the architecture and design of the façade.[5] He continues his geometric style in this painting, by contrasting the domes and rounded spaces with the straight, vertical structures. Also noticeable is his use of dots and tiny curved lines to highlight small details on the figures in the piece. This is known as his late “calligraphic” style, which he adopted after his return to Venice to add a touch of sparkle and life to them.[6]

A different angle of the piazza is shown in his Piazza San Marco: Looking East from the South-West Corner (Fig. 20). The preliminary drawing of circa 1760 (Fig. 21) shows an extended view that Canaletto chose not to include in the final painting, but most likely used as a prototype for other paintings of the piazza. Featured are the Campanile and San Marco underneath the colonnade of the Procuratie Nuove.[7] Although the architecture is prominent, what draws the viewer’s attention directly is the cluster of people in the foreground. It is unknown who these men are, but they are actively engaging in a conversation. The man standing to the right mimics the upright figures elsewhere in the picture. He also holds a cup of coffee, suggesting that he was just at the Café Florian in the Piazza, but not shown in the painting. By including such a figure who is clearly enjoying the locale and the services found there, Canaletto may have been promoting the lively social scene in Venice.[8] He stands and faces to the left, drawing the viewer’s attention in the same direction, toward the sunlit open space and San Marco. Throughout his career, Canaletto had regularly worked outside, drawing from the motif, just as he had probably shown himself in two of the paintings discussed above (figs. 11 and 16). Even at this late point in his career, he was still working outside. In fact, the Reverend Edward Hinchliffe wrote that his grandfather and John Crewe, when in Venice in 1760:

…chanced to see a little man making a sketch of the Campanile in St. Mark’s Place: Hinchliffe took the liberty – not an offensive one abroad, as I myself can testify – to look at what he was doing. Straightway he discovered a masterhand and hazarded the artist’s name ‘Canaletti’. The man looked up and replied ‘mi conosce’.[9]

This suggests Canaletto’s increased popularity and recognition for his skill, especially for British visitors.

In 1763, Canaletto was accepted as a member of the Venetian Academy. It was the custom for an artist to present the Academy with a painting after he was admitted, and Canaletto chose to paint what would be his last capriccio scene.[10] It is called Capriccio: a Colonnade opening on to the Courtyard of a Palace, dated 1765 (fig. 22). The scene is entirely invented and the architecture creates a wonderfully effective contrast between diagonal, vertical, and horizontal lines. Especially beautiful is the intricate detailing along the shafts of the columns. The picture is a charming representation of a fantastic space, comprised of whimsical architecture and delicate detailing. The light highlights the left half of the picture, while the right remains shaded underneath the building. Although the architecture dominates the painting, Canaletto still includes a slice of his trademark bright blue sky and some green foliage. For this very important painting Canaletto wanted to show the Academy all his skill and inventiveness as a painter. Even though landscape and city scenes were not highly regarded as subjects by the Academy—history subjects and portraits were considered more prestigious for painters—Canaletto showed that his capriccio views were not just simple renderings of the world around him, but imaginative scenes that were more beautiful in composition and details than actual life. Canaletto showed with this painting that he was worthy of being a member of the Academy.

His last dated work is a drawing, completed 1766, titled San Marco: the Crossing and North Transept, with Musicians Singing (fig. 23). At the bottom of the paper, he wrote with pride, “I Zuane Antonio da Canal, made the present drawing of the musicians who sing in the ducal church of San Marco at the age of 68, without spectacles in the year 1766.”[11] It is clear that he has lost none of his abilities as an artist, despite the advanced age he acknowledges in his quote. In a painting done of the exact same view thirty-six years earlier, San Marco (An Evening Service) (fig. 24), he filled the composition with people, unlike in the drawing, where he has carefully shown just a few people, including a beggar with a dog and other figures.[12] The chorus sings enthusiastically while people below listen to them and pray, and the sun illuminates the interior of the basilica, touching upon the chorus, the hanging cross, and the crowd of people. In the later drawing, Canaletto takes more advantage of the open space, and does not choose to create such an upward composition. Instead, he focuses more on the figures as individuals and the details of the architectural decorations. Although the drawing is not completed in the same fashion as the painting, Canaletto still plays with the proportions of the composition, which is clearest in the differences in the height and width of the space in the two images. These two comparisons represent Canaletto’s lifelong battle in deciding how to portray his scenes. They are clear examples of his early versus his later styles and show how his style developed over the course of his career. What is “true” may not be visible in either work, but Canaletto still used his own inventiveness in completing both of them.[13]

Because of the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748), which became especially threatening in north Italy in 1745 and 1746, Canaletto traveled to his patrons in London in the spring of 1746 and he stayed in England for almost ten years.[1] When he first arrived, he painted scenes of the Westminster Bridge. For the Duke of Northumberland, he painted London: Seen through an Arch of Westminster Bridge (fig. 13), a work that was likely of particular importance to the Duke who was overseeing the project of constructing the new bridge at the time.[2] This striking composition is highlighted by the dynamic relationship between curvilinear and horizontal lines. The structure of the semi-circular arch frames the view of London, which is highlighted by the overwhelmingly large yellowish-blue sky. Instead of using his traditional bright blue, sunny hues to depict the sky, he has chosen colors that represent dusk or dawn. The bridge is positioned at an angle, so that it creates depth and does not act as a barrier between the viewer and the Thames.[3] It is placed slightly off-center, so that more of the bridge to the left is included. A bucket hanging at the right helps to balance this out and add more linear interest. Through the bridge, the viewer can see the top of the church of Saint Clement Danes in the center, Saint Paul’s Cathedral toward the right, and the Water Tower and York Water Gate at the left.[4] Although the subject is London, Canaletto has given the picture a number of Venetian qualities. First of all, he has positioned himself on the river, just as he frequently positioned himself on the canals of Venice, so that the water plays a fundamental role in the composition. As is the case in many of his Venetian scenes, the sky occupies more than two-thirds of the canvas. In addition, the buildings are painted with the same kind of precision and attention to architectural detail, while the figures add life to the scene. The one unusual feature is the huge arch of the bridge, through which the viewer sees all of London, a new kind of viewpoint that would have impressed Canaletto’s British contemporaries.

In 1747, Canaletto painted London: Whitehall and the Privy Garden from Richmond House (Fig. 14) for Charles Lennox, the 2nd Duke of Richmond.[5] The Duke is shown here with one of his servants in the lower right-hand corner, claiming both patronage of the work and ownership of the scene, which depicts part of his land in London. This picture has become one of the most highly acclaimed paintings that Canaletto completed while in England.[6] The composition itself is highly geometric. It is clear that his artistic style in London was beginning to evolve with rational undertones and crisp lines. The perspective that he chose creates a convenient line on which the buildings rest in an orderly fashion. Everything is directed toward the center plane, as if he were trying to create order out of the mass of buildings and people making their way through the space.[7] Each person and building is exquisitely finished, with even the most minute detail included. This, along with the bright blue sky covering the upper half of the work, remain characteristic of Canaletto.

In 1754, Thomas Hollis, a philosopher and author who was one of Canaletto’s best friends in England, commissioned Canaletto to paint Old Walton Bridge (Fig. 15).[8] He paints the bridge off to the right of the picture in bright white against the gray cloud hovering overhead. The river fills most of the foreground, together with a boat that is having its mast lowered so that it can pass under the bridge. A seated man in the foreground resembles the artist in Rome: the Arch of Constantine (Fig. 11), perhaps Canaletto himself. Thomas Hollis is depicted with his friend Thomas Brand, his Italian servant Francesco Giovannini, and Hollis’ pet dog Malta on the riverbank, with Hollis wearing the bright yellow coat that makes him stand out.[9] They, along with several other figures, enliven the foreground, and many more are seen across the river. Samuel Dicker, a member of Parliament, paid for the bridge in 1747 and his house can be seen across the bridge in the painting.[10] The composition overall continues Canaletto’s desire for geometric harmony. The unusual structure of the bridge, with its many intersecting pieces of wood, is balanced by the details on the left, including geese in the river, the boat passing through, and a cluster of trees. The sky is vividly represented and comprises about half of the picture, a constant characteristic of the artist’s work.

While he was in England, Canaletto began to invent landscapes and combine elements from different sources with greater confidence. What was real and what was imagined in his work became much more obvious. With representations like Capriccio: River Landscape with a Ruin and Reminiscences of England  (Fig. 16) and its companion Capriccio: River Landscape with a Column, a Ruined Roman Arch, and Reminiscences of England of about 1754 (Fig. 17), for example, he truly assimilated two worlds into one.[11] In both paintings, Canaletto creates a scene that combines the modern British countryside with buildings, ruins, and monuments that come from ancient and modern Italy.[12] Known as the Lovelace Canalettos because they were sold by the Earl of Lovelace in 1937, these were most likely commissioned by the 5^th Lord King of Surrey.[13] It is said that when the second painting was completed, Canaletto placed an advertisement in the newspaper announcing that he was holding an exhibition in his London home, partly for publicity and partly to prove he was the real Canaletto. (In Venice at the time, his nephew Bernardo Bellotto was calling himself “Canaletto” and was producing views that were similar to his uncle’s in style.[14]) Because of the way Canaletto had combined so completely two different worlds in one composition, the painting attracted much attention, and for good reason. In the foreground, there is a tall Corinthian column with a saint on the top. In the middle ground toward the left, there is a triumphal arch that could have been inspired by any number of architectural monuments in Rome. Also in the middle ground toward the right and behind the column is an aqueduct-like bridge that resembles Westminster Bridge.[15] In some ways it appears that the background is split by the two worlds. On the left-hand side, the vegetation, greenery, and hilly landscape resemble a scene that can be found in England. Off to the right, even farther back in the composition, the cityscape appears to be Italian-inspired, with a prominent dome protruding upward. Trees on either side delicately frame the painting, and the sky, moving from a peachy tone to bright blue in the upper right-hand corner, has the tonalities that are often found in Canaletto’s own creations. Some unusual features of these two paintings and of other works produced by Canaletto in England are the rather smooth handling of the landscape and the generalization figures that look like blotches of color. This is a new style in Canaletto’s work, very different from the highly detailed and individualized figures that appear in the paintings he had made before that time.[16] With this shift in style Canaletto may have been catering to the specific tastes of his clients or may have been thinking about how these works were going to be displayed.  If they were only going to be seen from a distance, they did not have to be as carefully painted as they would have to have been if they were going to be seen close up.  In any case, this bold style is a characteristic of some of the paintings Canaletto made while he was in England.

In 1747, Canaletto painted London: Whitehall and the Privy Garden from Richmond House (Fig. 15) for Charles Lennox, the 2nd Duke of Richmond.[5] The Duke is shown here with one of his servants in the lower right-hand corner, claiming both patronage of the work and ownership of the scene, which depicts part of his land in London. This picture has become one of the most highly acclaimed paintings that Canaletto completed while in England.[6] The composition itself is highly geometric. It is clear that his artistic style in London was beginning to evolve with rational undertones and crisp lines. The perspective that he chose creates a convenient line on which the buildings rest in an orderly fashion. Everything is directed toward the center plane, as if he were trying to create order out of the mass of buildings and people making their way through the space.[7] Each person and building is exquisitely finished, with even the most minute detail included. This, along with the bright blue sky covering the upper half of the work, remain characteristic of Canaletto.

In 1754, Thomas Hollis, a philosopher and author who was one of Canaletto’s best friends in England, commissioned Canaletto to paint Old Walton Bridge (Fig. 16).[8] He paints the bridge off to the right of the picture in bright white against the gray cloud hovering overhead. The river fills most of the foreground, together with a boat that is having its mast lowered so that it can pass under the bridge. A seated man in the foreground resembles the artist in Rome: the Arch of Constantine (Fig. 11), perhaps Canaletto himself. Thomas Hollis is depicted with his friend Thomas Brand, his Italian servant Francesco Giovannini, and Hollis’ pet dog Malta on the riverbank, with Hollis wearing the bright yellow coat that makes him stand out.[9] They, along with several other figures, enliven the foreground, and many more are seen across the river. Samuel Dicker, a member of Parliament, paid for the bridge in 1747 and his house can be seen across the bridge in the painting.[10] The composition overall continues Canaletto’s desire for geometric harmony. The unusual structure of the bridge, with its many intersecting pieces of wood, is balanced by the details on the left, including geese in the river, the boat passing through, and a cluster of trees. The sky is vividly represented and comprises about half of the picture, a constant characteristic of the artist’s work.

While he was in England, Canaletto began to invent landscapes and combine elements from different sources with greater confidence. What was real and what was imagined in his work became much more obvious. With representations like Capriccio: River Landscape with a Ruin and Reminiscences of England  (Fig. 17) and its companion Capriccio: River Landscape with a Column, a Ruined Roman Arch, and Reminiscences of England of about 1754 (Fig. 18), for example, he truly assimilated two worlds into one.[11] In both paintings, Canaletto creates a scene that combines the modern British countryside with buildings, ruins, and monuments that come from ancient and modern Italy.[12] Known as the Lovelace Canalettos because they were sold by the Earl of Lovelace in 1937, these were most likely commissioned by the 5^th Lord King of Surrey.[13] It is said that when the second painting was completed, Canaletto placed an advertisement in the newspaper announcing that he was holding an exhibition in his London home, partly for publicity and partly to prove he was the real Canaletto. (In Venice at the time, his nephew Bernardo Bellotto was calling himself “Canaletto” and was producing views that were similar to his uncle’s in style.[14]) Because of the way Canaletto had combined so completely two different worlds in one composition, the painting attracted much attention, and for good reason. In the foreground, there is a tall Corinthian column with a saint on the top. In the middle ground toward the left, there is a triumphal arch that could have been inspired by any number of architectural monuments in Rome. Also in the middle ground toward the right and behind the column is an aqueduct-like bridge that resembles Westminster Bridge.[15] In some ways it appears that the background is split by the two worlds. On the left-hand side, the vegetation, greenery, and hilly landscape resemble a scene that can be found in England. Off to the right, even farther back in the composition, the cityscape appears to be Italian-inspired, with a prominent dome protruding upward. Trees on either side delicately frame the painting, and the sky, moving from a peachy tone to bright blue in the upper right-hand corner, has the tonalities that are often found in Canaletto’s own creations. Some unusual features of these two paintings and of other works produced by Canaletto in England are the rather smooth handling of the landscape and the generalization figures that look like blotches of color. This is a new style in Canaletto’s work, very different from the highly detailed and individualized figures that appear in the paintings he had made before that time.[16] With this shift in style Canaletto may have been catering to the specific tastes of his clients or may have been thinking about how these works were going to be displayed.  If they were only going to be seen from a distance, they did not have to be as carefully painted as they would have to have been if they were going to be seen close up.  In any case, this bold style is a characteristic of some of the paintings Canaletto made while he was in England.

One of Canaletto’s most important patrons was Joseph Smith, a British citizen who spent almost his entire life in Venice and was a passionate collector of paintings and drawings. Canaletto was one of his favorite artists and he eventually owned a large number of his works, all of which he eventually sold to King George III. In the early 1740s, Smith commissioned Canaletto to create a series of five paintings of Roman monuments. It is uncertain whether Canaletto journeyed to Rome for these works, or if he used sketches he had made in 1719-1720 when he was there with his father. Smith also had an extensive collection of prints of Roman views by earlier artists, so Canaletto may have used those as inspiration, as well.[1] In his painting called Rome: the Arch of Constantine of 1742 (fig. 11), he depicts the north face famous monument, but places the viewer to the south of the arch. The church of San Pietro and the Colosseum are both visible through the arch. A cluster of figures makes up the foreground, which perhaps could represent students on their Grand Tour. In the foreground to the left is a figure that could represent Canaletto himself. This figure, an artist, is shown with a ruler and book, and could either be drawing or writing. The fact that Canaletto chose to sign and date this work on the piece of stone next to the artist and shaped the letters like the ancient inscription on the Roman arch suggests that he was asserting himself as an master whose works would last through time in the same way as the monuments of ancient Rome had survived.

Another painting made for Smith, Rome: Ruins of the Forum, Looking towards the Capitol of 1742 (fig. 12), represents the site of the forum, the political center of ancient Rome. More Grand Tourists occupy the space and they all appear to be admiring the newly excavated and imposing structures of the remains of the temple of Castor and Pollox.[2] The columns direct the viewer’s attention upward above all the other buildings. The Temple of Saturn and the Palazzo Senatorio are also featured in this work, adding to the upward thrust of the composition. Although all of the historical sites are accurately represented, Canaletto made some additions of his own. Some of the houses off to the left are entirely made up, as comparison with contemporary views of the forum show, and the chimneys that adorn their roofs seem to be Venetian instead of Roman.[3] It is as if Canaletto were turning the tops of the houses into horizontal lines that would balance out the strong verticalities of the other elements in this painting. This piece is unique because Canaletto combines the two worlds of Rome and Venice into one, calculated composition. This may be one of the first examples of a capriccio by Canaletto, meaning that he began not only to play with proportion and space, but he also blended architecture of different cities into one work. He signed and dated this work in the same way that he did in Rome: the Arch of Constantine (fig. 11).

One example of Canaletto’s more creative type of view painting is Grand Canal: the Rialto Bridge from the North, 1725 (fig. 1), which reveals that he combined two separate views of the Grand Canal into one painting.[1] Canaletto himself commented on this picture and identified its location in November of 1725, saying:

The Rialto Bridge seen from the side of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi which is opposite the Palace of the Camerlenghi Magistrates and other Magistrates, with other buildings nearby which look on to the vegetable market where all kinds of vegetables and fruits are delivered to be distributed to the suppliers in the city. In the middle of the Canal is painted a Peotta Nobile with figures in it and four Gondoliers going at full speed and close to it a gondola having the livery of the Emperor’s Ambassador.[2]

If one stands on one of the landing stages where he must have placed himself to paint this work, only the end wall of the Fabbriche Vecchie, seen here at the right of the painting (with the arches on the first story), would be visible to the right of the white Palazzo dei Camerlenghi, which is shown in the painting between the Rialto Bridge and the Fabbriche. One block away, there is another landing stage where one can see the Fabbriche Vecchie, but only the end wall of the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi.[3] However, Canaletto painted the scene so that both the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi and the Fabbriche Vecchie were fully visible from the same viewpoint, which is not possible. This means that the two buildings on the right-hand side of the Grand Canal had to have been studied separately before they were combined into this scene. By looking at two modern photographs taken of the bridge from the different landing platforms (figs. 2 and 3), and comparing them to Canaletto’s preliminary sketch of the painting (fig. 4), one can clearly see how he constructed this imaginary view.[4]

Another good example of Canaletto creating a new perspective can be seen in his painting called Grand Canal: Looking North from near the Rialto Bridge, 1730 (fig. 5).[5] For this, Canaletto first made a preliminary drawing (fig. 6) in which the scene he depicts is seen at eye-level. However, when he paints it, he lifts the viewpoint so that it is seen from a higher level. This change makes it seem like the viewer must be seeing the canal from the piano nobile, or the first floor of a Venetian palazzo, perhaps with a higher-class client in mind, or it could have been made purely for aesthetic adjustments and purposes.[6] In both this and Grand Canal: the Rialto Bridge from the North, Canaletto uses similar tonalities. The facades of the sunlit buildings are painted in light tans, beiges, pinks, and grayish-whites; the gondolas are black; splashes of white are provided by bright white cloths; the canal is mainly greenish-gold and green-blue; and the cloudy skies are many tones of blue. Moreover, both paintings are similarly organized: the sky comprises about two-thirds of each painting, while the cluster of buildings and the Grand Canal make up the bottom third of the compositions.

In a painting called Venice: A Regatta on the Grand Canal (fig. 7), Canaletto depicts a regatta scene during the Festa delle Marie.[7] It appears as though he should have painted this from a boat on the canal, but he actually completed it on land. This may be an indication that Canaletto used the camera obscura, or camera ottica, a special constructed box that would project an image of the landscape onto a flat surface, thus making it easy for the artist to draw it and to increase his accuracy of depiction.[8] According to Antonio Maria Zanetti writing in a document from November of 1725, “by his example Canal taught the correct way of using the camera ottica; and how to understand the errors that occur in the picture when the artist follows too closely the lines of the perspective.”[9] In the painting, he captures a direct image of the regatta, while spectators fill the scene, pointing and gesturing toward the race. Off to the far left is the macchina, under which the winners of the races were celebrated. In a 1740 composition called A Regatta on the Grand Canal (fig. 8), Canaletto paints from almost the same standing point, but he has made several changes. The light in the second painting is much brighter, and the water is filled with more lavish boats. He has also very slightly shifted the composition upward, so that the top of the building located on the left can now be seen. In both paintings, it is clear that it is a Carnival scene because many of the spectators are wearing black capes and white masks, or bauta garb.[10] Canaletto features more of these festively dressed people in the second painting. The colors he chooses to use appear to be more muted in the second composition, but this may have to do with the darker shadows cast by the sun. Both are representations and clear examples of how Venice received its reputation as a vibrant and festive city.

One of Canaletto’s best known works is Venice: The Feast Day of Saint Roch of about 1735 (fig. 9). Here, he depicts the procession of the Doge coming out of the church of San Rocco, where the saint’s relics have been kept since 1485. On 16 August of every year, the saint’s Feast day, a celebration took place to honor St. Roch, the patron saint of plague victims. By honoring the saint, the citizens of Venice thought they could prevent an outbreak of the plague, after one had deeply devastated the population in 1576.[11] This is the first time an artist had depicted this ceremony as the main subject of a painting, but even if Canaletto saw the actual scene, this does not represent it as it happened, because Canaletto could not have seen the procession or the buildings exactly as he depicted them here. The position of the church of the Frari off to the right of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, which dominates the picture, is wrong, for example, for in reality, the church stands in front of the scuola.[12] In addition, topographical studies have proved that, because of the way the buildings face in reality, the light cannot hit them the way it does in Canaletto’s painting.[13] It is as if the artist has played with the light in order to highlight the scuola, which is decorated with paintings for the festive occasion. The procession fills the bottom of the painting, anchoring the composition with its horizontal weight and movement. The figures can be identified based on the color of their clothes and type of dress. The Doge is shown in gold, and he is surrounded by his cushion-bearers, secretaries in light purple, the Cancelliere Grande in red, the Senators, the Ambassadors, the Guardiano Grande di San Rocco, and the bearer of the sword of state.[14]

The Stonemason’s Yard of about 1725 (fig. 10) is considered to be a masterpiece of Canaletto’s early career.[15] It is also one of his most unusual works, in that he has hardly altered the scene at all. Here, the Campo San Vidal is the space into which the viewer is invited, with the Grand Canal in the middle ground. The church of Santa Maria della Carità sits on the far side of the Grand Canal.[16] The picture is unlike anything previously done by Canaletto. The subject matter strays far away from what he depicted in the urban areas of Venice. Here, he chose to focus on a quiet corner of the city. Michael Levey noted that, “part of the difficulty of dating the picture is due to its uniquely high quality. It is perhaps the product of a moment of fusion between Canaletto’s early and mature styles, both of which seem present in it.”[17] He has, however, elevated the viewpoint again by creating his balcony perspective, as seen in Grand Canal: Looking North from near the Rialto Bridge (fig. 5), which allows us to look down on the scene. Otherwise, he has stayed true to the actual topography of what he observes.[18] Today, there have been several changes made to the scene, including the addition of the Accademia Bridge, alterations on the church façade, the destruction of the campanile, and the building of a pseudo-gothic palace at the left. Unfortunately, no preliminary drawings for this work are known, so scholars are unable to study whether or not he made any changes to the composition. Nor were there any painted by any of Canaletto’s contemporaries.

The most important and innovative Venetian view painter in the eighteenth century was Canaletto (1697-1768). Born Giovanni Antonio Canal, the son of a theatrical scenery painter, Bernard Canal (1664-1744), Canaletto (meaning “little canal”) first trained to paint stage decorations with his father. From 1719 to 1720, they traveled together to Rome, where he was exposed to the works of the famous painter of city views and ruins, Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1691-1765) and was inspired to paint city scenes of his own.[1] After his return to Venice, he began working on views of the city, following to a certain extent the groundbreaking example of Luca Carlevarijs (1663-1730), who was already well established in Venice when Canaletto came to maturity as a painter. Very quickly, however, Canaletto’s reputation as a vedutista or view painter surpassed Carlevarijs.[2] Among Canaletto’s patrons were Stefano Conti, a merchant from Lucca; the Irish entrepreneur Owen McSwiney; Charles Lennox, the 2nd Duke of Richmond; and the British Consul to the Venetian Republic, Joseph Smith, who sold his collection to King George III, and who played an important role in launching Canaletto’s career.[3] Canaletto even traveled to England in 1746 and continued to work there for numerous British patrons for nine years, until he returned to Venice in 1755. No matter what subject he chose, whether he was working in Italy or in England, Canaletto could paint the details of his views with perfect accuracy and detail, but he was also recognized for his creative interpretations of his native city, the capricci, in which he made changes, added or omitted buildings, altered proportions, or created shadows that did not exist. He even adjusted the size and shape of the Grand Canal. He thus sometimes remodeled the actual cityscape in his paintings and created a new reality, but the postcard perfection of all his views made the spectator believe that they all depicted reality. Sometimes the alterations are very obvious and would be clear to anyone who was familiar with the place Canaletto was depicting, but sometimes the changes are very subtle. In all cases, though, Canaletto’s use of light, color, and detail are completely convincing and there is no difference in the execution of his capricci and his realistic views. A study of these various works will reveal his brilliance in both genres and will help to explain why he should be considered the greatest and most inventive of the Venetian vedutisti.

I. Introduction and Thesis

II. Early Period in Venice

III. Rome Paintings

IV. London Paintings

V. San Marco: Late Period in Venice

Continuing to edit my rough draft before posting it.

I have comprised a short, rough draft of a list of works that I would like to examine.

Grand Canal Paintings:

Grand Canal: the Rialto Bridge from the North, 1725

Grand Canal: looking North from near the Rialto Bridge, 1725

The Grand Canal and the Church of the Salute, 1730

Composite views

Venice: A Regatta on the Grand Canal, circa 1735 (A)

A Regatta on the Grand Canal, 1740 (B)

Venice: The Feast Day of Saint Roch, circa 1735

Venice: Campo S. Vidal and Santa Maria della Carita (“The Stonemason’s Yard”), 1727-1728

San Marco Paintings:

Piazza an Marco: looking South-West, 1750s

Venice: Piazza San Marco, late 1750s

Venice: Piazza San Marco and the Colonnade of the Procuratie Nuove, late 1750s

**Add England paintings, add different times of day, different views down the river?

Further my research:

What did he change? What did he keep? Color? Moving things around? Different perspectives? Take elements of different perspectives and put it into one painting? Does he move monuments around? Change proportions of paintings?