Canaletto
The view painter of Venice.
Canaletto painted the canals and palaces of Venice with great precision for English tourists on the Grand Tour. He also worked in London.
Canaletto's real name was Giovanni Antonio Canal, and he was born in Venice in 1697. The nickname means “little Canal”. His father, Bernardo Canal, was a theatre painter, and the son began by painting stage scenery with him. Around 1719–20 they worked in Rome on sets for operas. There Canaletto came into contact with painters who made views of the city.
Back in Venice he began to paint vedute, detailed views of the city. His early pictures have strong contrasts of light and shadow, such as The Stonemason's Yard from around 1725 in the National Gallery in London, where everyday life on a small piazza takes centre stage. Gradually the pictures became brighter and more festive, with the Grand Canal, St Mark's Square and the Doge's state barge on feast days.
His main buyers were English noblemen on the Grand Tour, the educational journey through Europe. The English consul Joseph Smith acted as his agent and bought many works himself. Smith's collection was sold to King George III in 1762, which is why one of the largest collections of Canaletto's art is in the British Royal Collection.
Canaletto painted with great precision. He probably used a camera obscura to make sketches, but he often altered proportions and perspective to get a better picture. His views are therefore not photographically accurate, even if they look it. When war in Europe in the 1740s reduced the number of tourists, he moved to London, where he stayed, with interruptions, for about nine years. He painted the Thames, Westminster Bridge and English country houses. He died in Venice in 1768.
Canaletto created the image of Venice that many people still have. His nephew Bernardo Bellotto, who sometimes also called himself Canaletto, carried the style on to Dresden and Warsaw. Bellotto's detailed views of Warsaw were used after the Second World War as a basis for rebuilding the city.