Canaletto: 12 works

A slideshow of artworks auto-selected from multiple collections

By Google Arts & Culture

Bacino di San Marco, Venice (about 1738) by Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal)Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

'Canaletto, one of the foremost vedute painters, here animates the entrance to Venice with cargo boats and gondolas that lead the eye back to precisely rendered buildings along the shore.'

Camera obscura (18th century) by Antonio Canal, known as CanalettoMuseo Correr

'In the 18th century, Canaletto made it one of the main tools used by landscape painters.'

The Piazza San Marco in Venice (Around 1723 - 1724) by CanalettoMuseo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza

'This early work, which nonetheless displays the most outstanding features of his style, depicts the most famous square in Venice from a high viewpoint, thus ensuring a broader frame for the composition.'

The Grand Canal in Venice with the Rialto Bridge (1724) by CanalettoOld Masters Picture Gallery, Dresden State Art Museums

'The painting is a masterpiece from Canaletto's early oeuvre. He was able to amass his first experiences through his father, a set design painter.'

The Molo, Venice (c. 1735) by Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canale)Kimbell Art Museum

'In this painting from the collection of the Earl of Rosebery, Mentmore, Canaletto depicts one of his most popular views of Venice----the Molo, a wharf just west of the Doge's Palace.'

Imaginary View of Padua (1741/1744) by CanalettoThe Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

'In the early 1740s, Canaletto turned to the previously unexplored medium of etching and produced a series of 30 works, the title of which states: "Views, some representing actual sites, others imaginary."'

Prà della Valle in Padua (1741 - 1746) by Giovanni Antonio Canal called Il CanalettoMuseo Poldi Pezzoli

'The painting is an excellent example of the Venetian veduta, characterized by the integration of natural and architectural elements into a scenic whole, a genre of which Canaletto was one of the finest interpreters.'

London: The Thames from Somerset House Terrace towards the City (1750 - 1751) by CanalettoRoyal Collection Trust, UK

'When the two views are placed side by side they create a long panoramic view of the curve of the river, the equivalent on the Thames of Canaletto's wide-angled views of the Bacino in Venice.'

A View of Walton Bridge (1754) by Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal)Dulwich Picture Gallery

'When travel became difficult for the English Grand Tourists, and demand for his work in Venice fell off, Canaletto came to England in 1746. He stayed for nine years.'

A capriccio with a monumental staircase (c.1755 - c.1760) by CanalettoRoyal Collection Trust, UK

'The drawing is commonly supposed to be late, of around 1760; it displays the strong perspective of, for instance, the drawing that corresponds with Canaletto's reception painting of 1765 for the Accademia, and shares with that sheet such incidental details as the decorated neoclassical vases sprouting a few straggly leaves. It is however richer in effect, with more variation in touch, than the rather monotonous lines of many of Canaletto's certainly late drawings (such as the set of Feste Ducali); it shares the style and mannerisms of the capricci catalogued above, differing only in scale and ambition.'

The Bucintoro at the Molo on Ascension Day (1760) by Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal)Dulwich Picture Gallery

'During recent conservation an inscription on the back of the canvas was revealed, confirming the date: 'Io, Antonio Canal, detto il Canalletto (sic), fecit - 1760' ('I, Antonio Canal, called Canaletto, made this - 1760').'

Architectural Capriccio (17th century) by CanalettoThe Morgan Library & Museum

'He also produced such fanciful views, or "capricci," as this one, which combine reality with imaginary elements.'

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