Much of Canaletto's early artwork was painted "from nature", differing from the then customary practice of completing paintings in the studio. Some of his later works do revert to this custom, as suggested by the tendency for distant figures to be painted as blobs of colour – an effect possibly produced by using a camera obscura, which blurs farther-away objects – although research by art historians working for the Royal Collection in the United Kingdom has shown Canaletto almost never used a camera obscura. W. G. Constable. Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697–1768. Ed. J. G. Links. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1976, vol. 1, pl. 11; vol. 2, p. 188, no. 2. Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 91, ill.

According to early critic and associate of the artist, Antonio Maria Zanetti, Canaletto had grown tired of the theater and "bored with the indiscretion of the dramatic poets." He transferred his immediate artistic attentions onto the ancient Roman monuments and modern buildings that surrounded him. These formative architectural drawings became his first independent subjects and the realistic detail in which he rendered them was to form the basis for his mature style.W. G. Constable. Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697–1768. Ed. J. G. Links. 2nd ed., reissued with supplement and additional plates. Oxford, 1989, vol. 1, pl. 11; vol. 2, p. 188, no. 2. The core of his market were English Grand Tourists looking to buy souvenirs to solidify their social status when they returned home," Gazzard says. "The Grand Tourists had the means and the incentive to buy his work.” Enter or exit from Constitution Avenue, 4th Street, or 7th Street. The Madison Drive entrance is currently closed. Venice, a view of the Churches of the Redentore and San Giacomo, with a moored Man-of-war, Gondolas and Barges

The Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, with the West End of the Church and the Scuola di San Marco Antonio Canale…astounds everyone in this city who sees his work, which is like that of Carlevarijs, but you can see the sun shining in it." Bernardo Canal was a well-respected theatrical scene painter and, as expected, Canaletto and his elder brother, Christoforo, joined their father as his apprentices. Having already helped to design and create the sets for operas by Fortunato Chelleri, Giovanni Porto, and Antonio Vivaldi, the 21-year-old Canaletto travelled with his father to Rome in 1718 to work on set designs for a series of Alessandro Scarlatti operas. It proved to be a turning point in Canaletto's life since it was on this excursion that he took the decision to abandon theatrical design altogether. Key stage 2, key stage 3, key stage 4, key stage 5 A Grand Tour of Venice - A Creative Writing workshop Le grand canal – Looking South-East from the Campo Santa Sophia to the Rialto Bridge, Anagoria, Venice (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin)

Whilst in England, between 1749 and 1752 Canaletto lived at number 41 Beak Street in London's Soho district. [18] We are honoured that this wonderful, unrivalled set of Canaletto paintings will come to the Holburne, the perfect setting for visitors to study the paintings closely in way that has never been possible before. It is very exciting to think that they are leaving the dining room in Woburn Abbey for the first time in more than 70 years.” The Museum owns a canvas by Francesco Guardi ( 71.119) showing the same scene but closer to the Rialto bridge. Guardi has taken his view from a window on the first floor of the Palazzo Bollani-Erizzo, overlooking the two-story building on the left. His canvas dates from about thirty years after Canaletto's. For Gazzard, it is this paradoxical nature of Canaletto’s work – creating remarkably detailed views of his city, while also cleverly manipulating the scenes he depicts – that is particularly fascinating.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, INTERVIEWS AND IMAGES Katie Jenkins, the Holburne Museum [email protected] This pair of paintings – A Regatta on the Grand Canal and The Basin of San Marco on Ascension Day– captures two of the most popular annual festivals in eighteenth-century Venice: the gondola races and the Wedding of the Sea ceremony. Both fell into decline during the late eighteenth century but were revived in 1965 and are still enjoyed today. Erkelens, Casper (1 March 2020). "Perspective on Canaletto's Paintings of Piazza San Marco in Venice". Art and Perception. brill.com. 8: 49–67. doi: 10.1163/22134913-20191131. S2CID 212940083 . Retrieved 26 October 2022.Terisio Pignatti. Il quaderno di disegni del Canaletto alle gallerie di Venezia. Milan, 1958, p. 23, states that the twenty paintings in the Harvey collection were on deposit at the Birmingham museum until recently, when they were withdrawn apparently due to their acquisition by an Italian collector.