Giovanni Antonio Canal, commonly known as Canaletto, was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school.
Paintings by Canaletto
The Entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice (1730)
The Entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice, is a c. 1730 oil painting by Italian painter Canaletto. It is a Rococo landscape painting measuring 49.6 by 73.6 centimeters (19.5 in × 29.0 in) currently held as part of the Robert Lee Blaffer Memorial Collection in the Audrey Jones Beck Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in Houston, Texas, and was a gift to the museum from Sarah Campbell Blaffer. The large church at the left of the painting is the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute. A variant of the painting with a larger church tower and an additional building is used as the Venetian screen in the 2001 video game Merchant Prince II.
Bacino di San Marco from the Puntana della Dogana (1743)
Bacino di San Marco from the Puntana della Dogana is an oil on canvas painting executed ca. 1740–1745 by Canaletto, now in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. It forms a pair with The Grand Canal looking towards Punta della Dogana from Campo Sant'Ivo (also in Pinacoteca di Brera), with both works produced in the artist's mature period just before his move to London.
It shows the Bacino di San Marco (San Marco basin) from punta della Dogana. It is more light-filled than his previous works, with clearer brushwork and showing the scene in the midday sun with more figures than in his earlier work.
The Stonemason's Yard (1725)
The Stonemason's Yard (formally known as Campo S. Vidal and Santa Maria della Carità) is an early oil painting by Giovanni Antonio Canal, better known as Canaletto. It depicts an informal scene in Venice, looking over a temporary stonemason's yard in the Campo San Vidal set up for the construction of Andrea Tirali's facade of the church of San Vidal, and across the Grand Canal towards the church of Santa Maria della Carità. Painted in the mid to late 1720s, it is now in the collection of the National Gallery in London and is considered one of Canaletto's finest works.
The painting measures 123.8 by 162.9 centimetres (48.7 in × 64.1 in). It depicts a Venetian scene looking roughly southwest over a temporary stonemason's yard situated in an open space beside the Grand Canal known as the Campo San Vidal ("campo", literally field, used in Venice to denote a small open space). Several masons are at work shaping and carving stone probably destined for the reconstruction of the nearby church of San Vidal (immediately behind the viewer and so not visible in the painting; its Palladian façade was renovated in the 1730s) or possibly for the embellishment of a nearby palazzo (the Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti and Palazzo Barbaro are close by, to the viewer's left). The side of the medieval church of Santa Maria della Carità, reconstructed in the 1440s, stands on the opposite bank of the Grand Canal, to the left of the façade of the Scuola Grande della Carità; the tower of the church of San Trovaso is visible rising over the rooftops in the distance.
The French Ambassador's Arrival in Venice (1727)
The French Ambassador's Arrival in Venice or Reception of the French Ambassador in Venice is an oil on canvas painting executed ca. 1726–27 by Canaletto. It depicts Count Jacques-Vincent Languet de Gergy disembarking onto the quay in front the Doge's Palace and being greeted by officials of the Venetian Republic. The painting was acquired by Catherine the Great between 1763 and 1796 and is now in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.
A View of Walton Bridge (1754)
A View of Walton Bridge is a 1754 landscape painting by the Italian artist Canaletto depicting the construction of a new bridge at Walton, Surrey on the Thames southwest of London, now known as Old Walton Bridge.
Canaletto had become famous for his depictions of his native Venice but in 1746 had journeyed to England to be closer to the wealthy British patrons he had worked for in Italy. Many of his commissions involved great houses and the public buildings of the capital. He also painted several views of the newly constructed Westminster Bridge. The eighteenth century saw a flurry of new bridges to supplement the few crossings of the river. Plans for a bridge at Walton to replace the historic ferry saw work begin in 1748 to designs by the architect and engineer William Etheridge. It was completed in 1750.
Westminster Abbey with a Procession of the Knights of the Bath (1749)
Westminster Abbey with a Procession of the Knights of the Bath is a painting created in 1749 by the Italian artist Canaletto depicting the Knights of the Bath at Westminster Abbey. In 2020 the painting went on public display at the Abbey the first time since its 1792 commission as part of an exhibition at the Abbey's Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries. The painting typically hangs in the residence of the Dean of Westminster Abbey.
The Pra della Valle in Padua (1743)
The Pra della Valle in Padua is an oil-on-canvas painting executed ca. 1741–1746 by the Italian artist Canaletto. It presents an expansive view of the Prato della Valle in Padua. It entered the collection of the Milanese nobleman Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli and from there it passed its present owner, the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan.
The first written description of the work was by Emmanuele Antonio Cicogna, who mentioned it as part of Giuseppe Pasquali's collection in Venice. He also stated it "had been engraved in copperplate by the same artist, but with variations between the painting and the print".
Old Horse Guards (1749)
Old Horse Guards is a 1749 landscape painting by the Italian artist Canaletto. It depicts the view from St James's Park of the Horse Guards building in London. Built during the reign of Charles II it served as the headquarters of the British Army. At the time he painted it the existing building was due to be pulled down and replaced by the larger building designed by William Kent that still stands today. The painting offers a wider view of Whitehall in the mid-eighteenth century. On the right of the picture is the rear of Downing Street. It is also known by the longer title The Old Horse Guards from St James's Park.
Canaletto, best known for his paintings of his native Venice, had come to England in 1746, and painted a number of London scenes. While he usually painted by commission, he produced this work speculatively – possibly as he hoped a wealthy resident of Downing Street would purchase it. He displayed the painting to prospective buyers in his Soho lodgings.
The Feast Day of Saint Roch (1735)
The Feast Day of Saint Roch is a 1735 cityscape painting by the Italian artist Canaletto. It shows a view of the church of San Rocco, Venice during the 16 August feast day of Saint Roch, as various dignateries led by the Doge leave following a Mass. Saint Roch was celebrated for his assistance in ending the Venetian plague of 1576. The Scuola Grande di San Rocco features prominently in the picture.
The painting is now in the National Gallery in London. It was acquired for the collection through an 1876 bequest by Wynne Ellis.
Greenwich Hospital from the North Bank of the Thames (1753)
Greenwich Hospital from the North Bank of the Thames is a c.1750 landscape painting by the Italian artist Canaletto. It depicts a view of Greenwich Hospital seen from across the River Thames from the a viewpoint on the Isle of Dogs. The Inigo Jones-designed Queen's House is in the centre of the painting with the Royal Observatory also visible on the hill in Greenwich Park. It may have been produced for the art collector and British consul in Venice Joseph Smith for his residence on the Grand Canal. Canaletto also produced two other views of Greenwich Hospital. Today the painting is in the collection of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
The Bucentaur Returns to the Pier at the Doge's Palace (1729)
The Bucentaur Returns to the Pier at the Doge's Palace or The Doge of Venice Departs for the Festival of the Betrothal of Venice to the Adriatic Sea is an oil-on-canvas painting executed c.1730 by the Italian painter Canaletto. It was acquired together with his Reception of the French Ambassador in Venice in the 1760s for the Hermitage Museum. In 1930 The Bucentaur was transferred to the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, where it remains. Variants of the work survive in several collections, including the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle, the Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Uffizi, whilst a copy by Fyodor Alekseyev is in the Russian Museum.
The Arch of Septimius Severus (1742)
The Arch of Septimius Severus is a 1742 landscape painting by the Italian artist Canaletto. It depicts the Arch of Septimius Severus, a triumphal arch in Rome. Constructed in the Roman Forum during the early third century to celebrate victories of the Roman Empire in the Parthian Wars. Canaletto portrays the intricate inscription and carvings on the white marble arch, with a shadow from the church of Santi Luca e Martina on the right falling on it.
It was one of five vertical views of Rome produced by the artist. Although Canaletto is known for his views of Venice, he also produced scenes of other locations including Rome and England. The painting was based on a sketch that Canaletto had produced in 1720, altered slightly make it a vertical view including the surrounding buildings. It was acquired by George III from the British consul in Venice Joseph Smith in 1762 and hung at Buckingham House. It remains in the Royal Collection. Another version of the scene is in the Cincinnati Art Museum in Ohio.
Capriccio with Palladian buildings (1750)
The Capriccio with Palladian buildings (Italian: Capriccio con edifici palladiani) is an oil painting on canvas (58x82 cm) by Canaletto, dating from about 1756 to 1759 and stored in the Galleria Nazionale Di Parma.
The painting shows a fictitious scene with buildings by the Italian architect Andrea Palladio. The Palazzo Chiericati in Vicenza can be seen at the left edge of the picture, the building on the right is the Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza. The bridge is Palladio's project for the Rialto Bridge in Venice, which, however, was not executed.
Eton College (painting) (1746)
Eton College is a 1754 landscape painting by the Italian artist Canaletto. It depicts a view of Eton College, then in Buckinghamshire, from the opposite bank of the River Thames at Windsor. Prominent amongst the buildings is Eton College Chapel, built during the fifteenth century.
It was one of the final paintings produced by Canaletto at the end of his nine-year stay in Britain before he returned to his native Italy. Today it is in the collection of the National Gallery in London, having been acquired in 1876.