Fortunately, so does another little known side to Canaletto's art, a deeply poetic romanticism. In 1725, the Venetian artist painted a view of the Grand Canal looking north from the Rialto Bridge with an intensely dramatic atmosphere. A storm threatens to break out as the sun, invisible behind wisps of white and purplish gray clouds, lights up the incurving sweep of the canal with an unnaturally intense yellow glare. The palaces on the opposite side, plunged in darkness, cast spiky shadows across the water. Three gondolas are barely visible near the wharf enveloped in blackness, while a fourth lonely boat appears in the middle, looking frail in the vast expanse of water.
Nature is about to explode.
The tension, toned down by the theatricality of the urban setting, places the picture in a category of its own. On loan from a private collection, this is one of the revelations of the show. So is another view of the Grand Canal with the Rialto Bridge seen from the north in 1735. This too is a private loan. The light effects in the windswept sky where the sun remains invisible, the reflections in the water and the shadow play give it an even greater intensity.