Canaletto
(1697-1768)
Contents
The Highlights
RIO DEI MENDICANTI: LOOKING SOUTH
SANTI GIOVANNI E PAOLO AND THE SCUOLA DI SAN MARCO
THE PIAZZETTA: LOOKING NORTH
THE STONEMASON’S YARD
THE ENTRANCE TO THE GRAND CANAL, VENICE
THE REGATTA ON THE GRAND CANAL
GRAND CANAL: FROM SANTA MARIA DELLA CARITÀ TO THE BACINO DI SAN MARCO
DOLO ON THE BRENTA
ROME: ARCH OF CONSTANTINE
LONDON: WESTMINSTER BRIDGE FROM THE NORTH ON LORD MAYOR’S DAY
LONDON: WHITEHALL AND THE PRIVY GARDEN FROM RICHMOND HOUSE
WARWICK CASTLE
WESTMINSTER ABBEY WITH A PROCESSION OF KNIGHTS OF THE BATH
OLD WALTON BRIDGE
ETON COLLEGE CHAPEL
PIAZZA SAN MARCO LOOKING EAST FROM THE SOUTH WEST CORNER
The Paintings
THE COLLECTED PAINTINGS
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PAINTINGS
The Etchings
THE ETCHINGS OF CANALETTO, 1697-1768
The Delphi Classics Catalogue
© Delphi Classics 2016
Version 1
Masters of Art Series
Giovanni Antonio Canal
By Delphi Classics, 2016
COPYRIGHT
Masters of Art - Canaletto
First published in the United Kingdom in 2016 by Delphi Classics.
© Delphi Classics, 2016.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.
ISBN: 978 1 78656 501 3
Delphi Classics
is an imprint of
Delphi Publishing Ltd
Hastings, East Sussex
United Kingdom
Contact: [email protected]
www.delphiclassics.com
The Highlights
Venice — Canaletto’s birthplace
The house in which Canaletto was born
Portrait of Canaletto, 1754
THE HIGHLIGHTS
In this section, a sample of Canaletto’s most famous works is provided, with concise introductions, special ‘detail’ reproductions and additional biographical images.
RIO DEI MENDICANTI: LOOKING SOUTH
Giovanni Antonio Canal, better known by his sobriquet ‘little Canal’ as he was the son of the painter Bernardo Canal, was born in Venice in 1697. He served his apprenticeship with his father and his brother, learning the occupation of a theatrical scene painter. Canaletto was inspired by the Roman vedutista Giovanni Paolo Pannini, and started painting the daily life of the city and its people. After returning from studying in Rome in 1719, he began painting in his distinctive topographical style. His first known signed and dated work is Architectural Capriccio (1723), now housed in Milan in a private collection. Studying with the older Luca Carlevarijs, a moderately-talented painter of urban cityscapes, he soon became his master’s equal.
The following plate, Rio dei Mendicanti: Looking South, formed part of a set of paintings from 1723, which are believed to be the artist’s first depicted view paintings of Venice. The name of the original patron of the artworks has not survived, though they were first recorded in the inventory of the Princes of Liechtenstein in 1806. The striking quality of the draughtsmanship of the works has caused surprise amongst art historians, since no earlier and less accomplished canvases survive.
The view depicted in the image is not a commonly depicted canal of Venice and was rarely frequented by tourists. Instead, it is the haunt of everyday Venetians, going about their usual business, evidently unaware of our scrutiny. A long pavement creates a sense of depth to the picture, running beneath the looming form of the San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti church. A fragile looking wooden bridge spans the canal water, while the Ponte del Cavallo can be glimpsed in the background. Feathery brushstrokes and the dappled sky charge the image with a sense of tranquillity, offering a view of the city away from the hectic areas of the more populated canals. Colourful clothing, hung up on lines as washing, differentiates the palette, while additional elements add interest to the piece: a maid shakes the dirt of her broom from the second floor window to the far right of the canvas; pockets of men gather closely for what appear to be whispered conversations; an old man gingerly holds on to a wall, while gripping his walking stick with the other hand. This everyday glimpse of Venetian life characterises many of the artist’s earlier canvases, anticipating the style of another Venetian artist, Franceso Guardi.
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The Rio dei Mendicanti (Beggars Canal) is a canal in Venice forming the boundary between the district of Cannaregio and Castello.
Portrait of Giovanni Paolo Panini by Louis Gabriel Blanchet. Panini influenced Canaletto’s early works.
One of Panini’s masterpieces: ‘Roman Capriccio: The Pantheon and Other Monuments’, 1735, Indianapolis Museum of Art
SANTI GIOVANNI E PAOLO AND THE SCUOLA DI SAN MARCO
Now housed in Dresden’s Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, the following 1725 canvas depicts a scene of Venice’s most prominent Dominican church, Santi Giovanni e Paolo, to the left, with the equestrian monument to Bartolommeo Colleoni — an Italian condottiero, who became captain-general of the Republic of Venice — to the right. The sculpture was completed by Andrea Verrocchino in c. 1470. Canaletto also provides a view of the Scuola di San Marco, the wealthiest of the six major philanthropic fraternities of the city, in the centre of the canvas, with sunlight streaming noticeably upon it, as a diagonal line of shade slices across the far right.
The piazza before the edifice is teeming with life, featuring figures from all walks of life, including beggars, merchants, a mother and child, elegant society women and a lone dog. A few boatmen stand by and talk on the steps leading down to the canal, suggesting a hiatus from the busy waterway depicted by the three different boats on a relatively small section of water. Interested onlookers stand on the bridge spanning the canal, looking down on the city’s ever-changing traffic.
It is now believed the canvas was purchased by the Ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire during his visit to Venice at the Annual exhibition of paintings held outside the Scuola di San Rocco. Painters like Canaletto often used such exhibitions to promote their work to new potential patrons. Capturing the interest of such a distinguished buyer demonstrates the young artist’s growing reputation and skills.
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The Scuola Grande of San Marco today
THE PIAZZETTA: LOOKING NORTH
In 1727 Canaletto produced a series of six paintings of the Piazza and Piazzaetta in Venice for the agent Joseph Smith, who would become the artist’s most important patron over the subsequent years. It is likely the series was intended to decorate the walls of Smith’s palace located on the Grand Canal. The following plate, The Piazzetta: Looking North, held in Britain’s Royal Collection, is one of the six scenes, presenting a view looking towards the Torre dell’ Orologio clock tower, with San Marco to the right of the image. At the centre of the foreground we can see a procurator dressed in a striking red robe, with a notary dressed in black following him. The figures add a mature and significant theme to the image, stressing the important functions of civic life. However, much different figures from other walks of life populate the scene, adding local colour.<
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The Clock Tower in recent times
THE STONEMASON’S YARD
The Stonemason’s Yard was completed in the late 1720’s and is generally considered one of Canaletto’s finest works. It depicts a Venetian scene looking southwest over a temporary stonemason’s yard, situated in an open space beside the Grand Canal known as the Campo San Vidal. Several masons are at work shaping and carving stone, most likely destined for the reconstruction of the nearby church of San Vidal, immediately behind the viewer and so not visible in the painting. The side of the medieval church of Santa Maria della Carità, reconstructed in the 1440’s, 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.
As found in so many of the artist’s paintings, we witness a detailed representation of everyday life in Venice. This particular image is most likely set in the early morning, as a cock crows on a windowsill to the lower left and sunlight streams in from the left. The mainly domestic buildings are generally in poor repair, with typical Venetian flared chimney-pots. Laundry hangs from many of the windows and pot plants stand on several balconies. A woman uses a distaff and drop spindle to spin thread on a balcony to the right; another draws water from a well in the campo beside a wooden shed. The well-head is shaped like the capital of a column, adding a classical hint to the scene. Two children play in the foreground to the left. One child is falling over and urinating involuntarily in surprise, as a woman lunges forward to catch him. The spontaneity of the scene helps evoke a natural atmosphere, avoiding an artificial quality found in some of the artist’s other large-scale images.
Unsigned with no recorded date, the painting is attributed and dated by stylistic clues. The informal scene is thought to have been painted for a Venetian patron, rather than a foreign visitor to Venice. Unlike many views painted by Canaletto, the location has changed significantly since the 1720’s. The view of the opposite bank of the Grand Canal is now blocked by the high arch of the modern wooden Accademia bridge and the church of the Carità has been much altered. The campanile collapsed in the 1740’s, demolishing the houses beside the canal in front, and much of the other stonework has been removed. The nave became the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia in the 1800’s and the Gallerie dell’Accademia is housed in the Scuola. The Campo remains an open space, with the well-head at its centre.
The Stonemason’s Yard was one of the paintings donated to the nation by Sir George Beaumont in 1823 to form the nucleus of the National Gallery’s nascent collection. It passed to the National Gallery in 1828, where it continues to be exhibited today.
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Sir George Howland Beaumont, 7th Baronet (1753-1827) was a British art patron and amateur painter. He played a crucial part in the creation of London’s National Gallery by making the first bequest of paintings. ‘The Stonemason’s Yard’ was originally an important part of Beaumont’s collection.
THE ENTRANCE TO THE GRAND CANAL, VENICE
Canaletto developed a reputation for producing precisely depicted and evocative views of the Grand Canal. The artist soon learnt that providing formulaic paintings for tourists was a lucrative business. Travellers to Italy eagerly sought accurate and detailed records of their visits to Rome, Florence, Venice and Naples. These highly skilled works were produced with the aid of an organised workshop. His most important assistant was his nephew Bellotto, who also became an accomplished artist. Canaletto often made meticulous preparatory drawings and is likely to have used a camera obscura for topographical accuracy in creating some of his designs, though he was always concerned with satisfying compositional design, not simply recording views as they were.
The Entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice was completed in c. 1730 and is currently held as part of the Robert Lee Blaffer Memorial Collection in the Audrey Jones Beck Building at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. It was a gift from Sarah Campbell Blaffer. Despite the self-defined limits of his subject matter, Canaletto delicately enhances his subjects by omitting certain details in order to focus on an essential image. His broad range of colours captures a realistic impression of Venice and the daily life of the city. Executed in his studio after studies from the motif, his paintings can be regarded as more than topographic records. They are pure, intellectual re-creations. The interplay of the boatmen and gondoliers on the canal, the natural cloud formations in the sky and the light and shadow variations on the steps all confirm the master’s skill in his art.
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First published picture of a camera obscura in Gemma Frisius’ 1545 book ‘De Radio Astronomica et Geometrica’
THE REGATTA ON THE GRAND CANAL
Venice’s Historical Regatta takes place on the first Sunday of September; it is a competition between Venetian boats watched by thousands of people from the banks or from floating stands. Completed in 1732, Canaletto’s portrayal of the regatta is a lively and ornate interpretation. Some of the figures in the foreground wear the ‘bauta’, a costume featuring a white mask and black cape, typically worn during the carnival. The scene also illustrates the one-oared light gondola race, as four competitors race each other in the open canal water, while spectators crowd the bordering balconies and pavements, fixed upon the outcome. The gondola race had been first established in the fourteenth century and was also occasionally held to honour notable visitors to the city. On the floating pavilion on the left we can see the arms of the Carlo Ruzzini, who ruled as Doge from 1732-1735; it is from this platform that the coloured flags were presented to the winners. A striking feature of the canvas is the brightly decorated eight-oared barges and garish costumes worn by many of the figures at the Carnival, providing the artist the opportunity to use a much broader range of hues than were normally possible.
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The Historical Regatta of Venice in more recent times
GRAND CANAL: FROM SANTA MARIA DELLA CARITÀ TO THE BACINO DI SAN MARCO
St. Mark’s Basin (Bacino di San Marco) is the water space of the Venetian lagoon in front of St. Mark’s Square, between the canals of the Lido, Giudecca and the Grand Canal. Completed in the early 1730’s, this attractive image presents a comprehensive view of St. Mark’s Basin, where in the central distance we can glimpse the dome of the Santa Maria della Salute, with a number of wooden masts moored in the Basin. To the right we can see the church of Santa Maria della Carità, which would be later converted into the city’s art gallery, Accademia delle Belle Arti.
The canvas is notable for Canaletto’s maturing use of colour, as he effectively contrasts the vivid blue sky with the green water and the red and orange tones of the surrounding brickwork. His expert use of shadow is also impressive, as the slanting line of grey cuts across the building of the Scuola, producing a realistic impression of the sun’s changing light effects.
The following painting was at one time owned by Joseph Smith (c. 1682-1770), the British consul at Venice from 1744–1760, who was a patron of artists, most notably Canaletto. An art collector and connoisseur, Smith was also banker to the British community at Venice and a major draw on the British Grand Tour. As the agent for Canaletto for several years, c. 1729–35, he practically controlled the artist’s output, to the benefit of both. Smith arranged for Visentini to engrave thirty-eight of Canaletto’s views in 1730, leading to the rapid increase of interest in the artist throughout Britain. Smith also encouraged Canaletto to make what would be regarded as a very successful trip to London in 1746. In 1762 Smith sold the vast majority of his books, gems, coins, prints, drawings and paintings — including many works by Canaletto �
�� to the young George III for £20,000. The books today form the nucleus of the King’s Library at the British Museum, while the Royal Collection features many of his other treasures.
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Bacino (basin) Di San Marco today
DOLO ON THE BRENTA
Twelve miles to the west of Venice lies Dolo, a village on the river Brenta, which flows from Padua into the Lagoon at Mestre. Brenta, with its many country houses, was a favourite destination for excursions by boat and Canaletto immortalised the river in numerous drawings, etchings and paintings. The following plate is one of the earliest and most beautiful of Canaletto’s paintings on this theme.
Delphi Collected Works of Canaletto Page 1
