Canaletto (1697–1768) | Art UK Art UK | Discover Artists Canaletto (1697–1768) View all 132 (Born Venice, 17 October 1697; died Venice, 19 April 1768). Venetian painter, etcher and draughtsman, the most famous view-painter of the 18th century. He began his career assisting his father, a theatrical scene painter; their work included sets for Vivaldi operas in Venice and Alessandro Scarlatti operas in Rome, which they visited in 1719–20. Whilst he was in Rome Canaletto made drawings of ancient monuments and famous modern buildings, and after his return to Venice he abandoned theatrical work for topographical painting (see veduta). Read more His early paintings of Venice include some intimate views of unremarkable pieces of townscape, treated with great freshness of observation and liveliness of touch (The Stonemason's Yard, c.1727, NG, London).

However, he soon began to specialize in much grander views showing the public face of the city, including festivities on the canals. His colouring became stronger and brighter and his handling smoother and more precise. He worked from drawings made on the spot and also made use of a camera obscura, but although his pictures give the feeling of being extremely accurate records, he in fact often made departures from topographical correctness in the interests of creating a better composition—changing the proportions of a building or shifting its position and so on. He also produced imaginary views (see capriccio). His work appealed greatly to wealthy visitors to Venice and his best customers were British aristocrats making the Grand Tour, for whom he sometimes produced series of views in uniform size. Canaletto's dealings with his British clients were mainly done through an agent, Joseph Smith (c.1674–1770), who moved to Venice in about 1700 to work as a banker and stayed for the rest of his life.

In addition to working as an art dealer (with an efficient organization for shipping Canaletto's pictures to England), he was a publisher, and in 1744 he was appointed British consul in Venice—he is sometimes known as ‘Consul Smith’ and also as the ‘Merchant of Venice’. He had a superb art collection of his own, most of which he sold to George III in 1762, thus accounting for the fact that the British royal collection has the world's best representation of Canaletto's work. Canaletto's business was badly hit by the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–8), which severely curtailed Continental travel and therefore cut him off from his main patrons. In the early 1740s he concentrated on drawings and etchings, and in 1746 he moved to England, evidently at the suggestion of Jacopo Amigoni. He was based in England for the next decade (although during this time he made two visits to Venice). Initially he was very successful, painting views of London and of various country houses.

However, some of the work he produced in England was mechanical (even though he never lost his gift for handsome composition), and rumours were put about, probably by rivals, that he was not in fact the famous Canaletto but an impostor. In about 1756 he returned permanently to Venice. He continued active for the remainder of his life, but he never recovered his former popularity, and by the time of his death he seems to have been far from prosperous. His work was highly influential in Italy and elsewhere: his nephew Bernardo Bellotto took his style to central Europe and his followers in England included William Marlow and Samuel Scott. Text Source: The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford University Press) Share this page Canaletto Biography The Stonemason's Yard (detail) Canaletto's early works remain his most coveted and, according to many authorities, his best. One of his finest early pieces is The Stonemason's Yard (1729, London, the National Gallery) which depicts a humble working area of the city. Later Canaletto became known for his grand scenes of the canals of Venice and the Doge's Palace.

His large-scale landscapes portrayed the city's famed pageantry and waning traditions, making innovative use of atmospheric effects and strong local colors. For these qualities, his works may be said to have anticipated Impressionism. Work in England Many of his pictures were sold to Englishmen on their Grand Tour, often through the agency of the merchant Joseph Smith (who was later appointed British Consul in Venice in 1744). It was Smith who acted as an agent for Canaletto, first in requesting paintings of Venice from the painter in the early 1720s and helping him to sell his paintings to other Englishmen. In the 1740s Canaletto's market was disrupted when the War of the Austrian Succession led to a reduction in the number of British visitors to Venice. Smith also arranged for the publication of a series of etchings of caprichos (capriccio Italian for fancy), but the returns were not high enough, and in 1746 Canaletto moved to London, to be closer to his market.

Old Walton Bridge over the Thames, 1754 He remained in England until 1755, producing views of London (including the new Westminster Bridge) and of his patrons' castles and houses. His 1754 painting of Old Walton Bridge includes an image of Canaletto himself. He was often expected to paint England in the fashion with which he had painted his native city. Overall this period was not satisfactory, owing mostly to the declining quality of Canaletto's work.[citation needed] Canaletto's painting began to suffer from repetitiveness, losing its fluidity, and becoming mechanical to the point that the English art critic George Vertue suggested that the man painting under the name 'Canaletto' was an impostor. The artist was compelled to give public painting demonstrations in order to refute this claim; however, his reputation never fully recovered in his lifetime. After his return to Venice, Canaletto was elected to the Venetian Academy in 1763. He continued to paint until his death in 1768. In his later years he often worked from old sketches, but he sometimes produced surprising new compositions.

He was willing to make subtle alternations to topography for artistic effect. Popularity from the South, the Palazzo His pupils included his nephew Bernardo Bellotto, Francesco Guardi, Michele Marieschi, Gabriele Bella, Giuseppe Moretti, and Giuseppe Bernardino Bison. Joseph Smith sold much of his collection to George III, creating the bulk of the large collection of Canalettos owned by the Royal Collection. There are many examples of his work in other British collections, including several at the Wallace Collection and a set of 24 in the dining room at Woburn Abbey. Canaletto's views always fetched high prices, and as early as the 18th century Catherine the Great and other European monarchs vied for his grandest paintings.

The record price paid at auction for a Canaletto is £18.6 million for View of the Grand Canal from Palazzo Balbi to the Rialto, set at Sotheby's in London in July 2005.(From wikipedia) Canaletto - Venice Paintings for Sale Canaletto Toperfect Art supplies Canaletto Venice and painter biography, list of famous Canaletto paintings for sale, Venice drawings, works, and famous Venetian oil painting reproductions sale such as The Grand Canel. Our paintings gallery not only supply high-quality Venice Canaletto for sale, but also sell more paintings of Venice. The famous artists in our art company are good at on canvas Canaletto reproductions and other beautiful painting wholesale in museum quality such as The Grand Canel, Pastel Painting * Charcoal Drawing * Pencil Sketch * Wax Crayon Painting Toperfect supply oil painting masterpiece reproductions of the old master Canaletto, You are welcome to send us your own pictures to copy as museum quality oil painting on canvas. The copyright of scripts in this website is owned by Toperfect. Toperfect reserves the manual scripts of original version.

Toperfect will take appropriate legal action in the piracy and infringements of copyright. Italian Rococo painter & etcher born 1697 - died 1768 Also known as: Antonio Canal, Giovanni Antonio Canal, Antonio Canale, Antonio Canaleto, Antonio Canaletti, Antonio Canelitti, Antonio Cannalletti, Antonio Kanale, Antonio Kanaletto, Antonio Kannaletti, Antonio Kannaletti, Canaletti the younger. Teacher of: Bernardo Bellotto (1721-1780). Uncle of: Bernardo Bellotto (1721-1780). Canaletto Biography: (Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697-1768, Venetian painter, the most famous view-painter of the 18th century. Canaletto began work painting theatrical scenery (his father's profession), but he turned to topography during a visit to Rome in 1719-20, when he was influenced by the painting of Giovanni Paolo Panini.

By 1723 Canaletto was painting dramatic and picturesque views of Venice, marked by strong contrasts of light and shade and free handling, this phase of Canaletto paintings culminating in the splendid Stone Mason's Yard (National Gallery, London, c. 1730). Meanwhile, partly under the influence of Luca Carlevaris, and largely in rivalry with him, Canaletto began to turn out views which were more topographically accurate, set in a higher key, and with smoother, more precise handling -- characteristics that mark most of later Venice Canaletto works. At the same time Canaletto began painting the ceremonial and festival subjects which ultimately formed an important part of his landscape art work. Canaletto in Venice is a landscape painter appreciated by tourists. He is not only a successor of Rococo art but also the innovator of optics. He is expertise in depicting the Italian landscape such as Venice, using bright tone and light to express those famous places, architecture and landscapes. The skilful adoption of light made him a master of optics. So, oil painting lovers are very interested in his biography, and reproductions of paintings by Canaletto for sale in gallery are prevalent.

His patrons were chiefly English collectors, for whom Canaletto sometimes produced series of views in uniform size. Conspicuous among them was Joseph Smith, a merchant, appointed British Consul in Venice in 1744. It was perhaps at his instance that Canaletto enlarged his repertory in the 1740s to include subjects from the Venetian mainland and from Rome (probably based on Canaletto painting made during his visit as a young man), and by producing numerous capricci. Giovanni Antonio Canal also gave increased attention to the graphic art, making a remarkable series of etchings, and many drawings of Canaletto Venice in pen, and pen and wash, as independent Canaletto paintings of art and not as preparation for paintings. This led to changes in his style of landscape art painting, increasing an already well-established tendency to become stylized and mechanical in handling. He often used the camera obscura as an aid to composition.

Toperfect Art supplies Canaletto paintings of Venice landscape art, biography, prints and wallpaper of Venitian oil paintings like Return of the Bucintoro to the Molo on Ascension Day , The Grand Canal and the Church of the Salute, The Piazzetta. In 1746 Canaletto went to England, apparently at the suggestion of Jacopo Amigoni (the War of the Austrian Succession drastically curtailed foreign travel, and his tourist trade in Venice had dried up). For a time Canaletto was very successful, painting views of London and of various country houses. Subsequently, Venice Canaletto became increasingly lifeless and mannered, so much so that rumors were put about, probably by rivals, that he was not in fact the famous Canaletto but an impostor. In 1755 Giovanni Antonio Canal returned to Venice and continued active for the remainder of his life. Legends of his having amassed a fortune in Venice are disproved by the official inventory of his estate on his death.

Before this, Joseph Smith had sold the major part of Canaletto paintings to George III, thus bringing into the royal collection an unrivalled group of the paintings by Canaletto in Venice. - The most famous prints and wallpaper are Venitian landscape art including Return of the Bucintoro to the Molo on Ascension Day , The Grand Canal and the Church of the Salute, The Piazzetta, you may find them and Canaletto biography on oilpaintingfactory.com. Canaletto was highly influential in Italy and elsewhere. his nephew Bernardo Bellotto took his style to Central Europe and his followers in England included William Marlow and Samuel Scott. Analysis of Best Known Paintings by Canaletto -- Author: Lewis L., Toperfect Director. 1729 oil painting on canvas 182X259cm This artwork is a record of the very day of Ascension Day permeated with joy and happiness. Painting by Canaletto in Venice is setting in the historical background that: on Ascension Day , the supreme executive of the republic of Venice boarded on the big ritual ship to meet the archbishop of Venice.

They got together in the port to hold the betrothal ceremony for Venice city and the sea. After the ceremony the archbishop prayed for the engagement ring, and then the supreme executive threw it into the sea which symbolized that the city would dominate the sea. After that the music was played again, the gorgeous ritual ship returned to the port with well dressed people and decorated boats surrounded. In the Canaletto painting, the hot sunshine of Return of the Bucintoro to the Molo on Ascension Day at noon linking the people with thousands of postures, the golden ceremony ship, boats and architectures behind them together, presents the bright and joyful atmosphere of festival. Canaletto hasn’t neglected any small details in the painting. No matter the two masked man holding parasols in the stern of central boat, the blue waves shimmering in the river, the elaborately depicted hull, or the waiting crowd standing under the arcade of San Marco library, none of them are in a repeat pose. We have to praise Venice Canaletto for his delicate techniques in Return of the Bucintoro to the Molo on Ascension Day .

Famous Canaletto Paintings List Toperfect supply oil painting masterpiece reproductions of the famous painter above, you are welcome to send us your own picture to copy. Specially for individual customers and collectors, you're suggested to own a Museum Collection by famous artists for such oil painting classic. No Copyright Infringement of Toperfect's script! WebMuseum: Canaletto Canaletto Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) (1697-1768). Venetian painter, the most famous view-painter of the 18th century. He began work painting theatrical scenery (his father's profession), but he turned to topography during a visit to Rome in 1719-20, when he was influenced by the work of Giovanni Paolo Panini. By 1723 he was painting dramatic and picturesque views of Venice, marked by strong contrasts of light and shade and free handling, this phase of his work culminating in the splendid Stone Mason's Yard (National Gallery, London, c. 1730).

Meanwhile, partly under the influence of Luca Carlevaris, and largely in rivalry with him, Canaletto began to turn out views which were more topographically accurate, set in a higher key, and with smoother, more precise handling -- characteristics that mark most of his later work. At the same time he began painting the ceremonial and festival subjects which ultimately formed an important part of his work. Piazza San Marco - Looking Southeast 1735-40 (140 Kb); National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. His patrons were chiefly English collectors, for whom he sometimes produced series of views in uniform size. Conspicuous among them was Joseph Smith, a merchant, appointed British Consul in Venice in 1744. It was perhaps at his instance that Canaletto enlarged his repertory in the 1740s to include subjects from the Venetian mainland and from Rome (probably based on drawings made during his visit as a young man), and by producing numerous capricci. He also gave increased attention to the graphic arts, making a remarkable series of etchings, and many drawings in pen, and pen and wash, as independent works of art and not as preparation for paintings.

This led to changes in his style of painting, increasing an already well-established tendency to become stylized and mechanical in handling. He often used the camera obscura as an aid to composition. In 1746 he went to England, apparently at the suggestion of Jacopo Amigoni (the War of the Austrian Succession drastically curtailed foreign travel, and Canaletto's tourist trade in Venice had dried up). For a time he was very successful, painting views of London and of various country houses. Subsequently, his work became increasingly lifeless and mannered, so much so that rumors were put about, probably by rivals, that he was not in fact the famous Canaletto but an impostor. In 1755 he returned to Venice and continued active for the remainder of his life. Legends of his having amassed a fortune in Venice are disproved by the official inventory of his estate on his death. Before this, Joseph Smith had sold the major part of his paintings to George III, thus bringing into the royal collection an unrivalled group of Canaletto's paintings and drawings. Canaletto was highly influential in Italy and elsewhere.

His nephew Bernardo Bellotto took his style to Central Europe and his followers in England included William Marlow and Samuel Scott. Venetian painters: Canaletto Venetian painters: Canaletto [Venetian painters: Canaletto ] Antonio Canal called Canaletto (1697-1768)was the most famous ï¿½vedutistaï¿½, view painter, in Venice during the 18th century, the time of the Grand Tour. He was particularly successful in England since his agent and major collector was Joseph Smith, the British Consul in Venice. In 1746 Canaletto moved to London for about ten years and the paintings of this period are full of the grace and charm of Georgian London. His paintings are extremely accurate, showing the great monuments but also aspects of daily life of the city. One of his most coveted and finest early pieces is the Stonemasonï¿½s Yard (1729, London, National Gallery), which depicts a humble working area of the city. His large-scale landscapes portrayed the cityï¿½s famed pageantry and waning traditions, making innovative use of atmospheric effects and strong local colours.

For these qualities, his work may be said to have anticipated Impressionism. In Venice there are only two paintings by Canaletto, both at the Caï¿½ Rezzonico Museum: a view of the Grand Canal with the Rialto bridge in the distance and the Rio dei Mendicanti near Campo San Giovanni e Paolo, two places that are today exactly as they were. Caï¿½ Rezzonico ï¿½ 17th century museum. Canaletto in the Royal Collection Canaletto's Venice: a city for pleasure seekers - Telegraph Venice Canaletto's Venice: a city for pleasure seekers Canaletto, the Venetian painter beloved of those on a Grand Tour, captured his thrilling city in all its decadent splendour, says Nick Trend. 'The Entrance to the Grand Canal, looking West, with Santa Maria della Salute' by Canaletto The Grand Canal today Photo: ALAMY By Nick Trend Comments Sex, beauty, money, excitement and endless parties. Three hundred years ago, Venice was, for pleasure seekers, the single most seductive destination in the world.

By the time Canaletto was painting the great marble encrusted palaces along the Grand Canal, the medieval city state whose navy had ruled the seas from the Adriatic to Constantinople, and whose merchants had profited fabulously from their monopoly over the spice trade, had been in decline for centuries. Now its only consolation was in parties and pleasure. Consumed by a heady debauchery, it had become little more than a tourist trap. But what a trap, and what tourists. Between 1700 and the French Revolution, virtually every aristocratic family in Europe , and the vast majority of young British noblemen undertaking a Grand Tour of Italy , spent time in the city. Some came for the culture, all appreciated the undeniable beauty of the place, but most had money to burn and were intent, above all, on having a good time. As John Julius Norwich puts it, in this most magical of cities masked revellers were offered a carnival which was the "most protracted and abandoned in Europe… The gambling was the most smoothly organised, the stakes were the highest anywhere.

The courtesans were the loveliest and most elegant, catering to every taste." The age of tourism had been born, and many of the great Venetian families whose names resounded around the courts and trading halls of Europe, were reduced to renting out their palazzi to wealthy young men from Britain and Germany. Today, many of those palazzi have become hotels and 21st-century Venice still survives on the pleasure principle, even if contemporary tourists are a little more modest in their expectations. Related Articles Milan: stylish shopping, eating and drinking 29 Sep 2010 Perhaps not surprisingly though, it is the city's most hedonistic era that most of us know best. The music of Vivaldi, the exploits of Casanova, the carnival and the masked balls, the formal views of the Grand Canal and St Mark's Square by Canaletto. These all stem from the 18th century, when the city had lost all its military prowess and most of its trading power. Those Canalettos, many now on show in a new exhibition at the National Gallery, were the postcards sent home by visiting aristocrats.

If you were a young English viscount visiting Venice in the 18th century, you wanted people to know you had been there, and you wanted a tasteful reminder of those heady weeks of indulgence and debauchery. So, with the help of Joseph Smith, the long time resident and British Consul of the time, who acted as Canaletto's agent, you bought at least one to hang in your country seat. The result, rather bizarrely, is that, of the hundreds of views churned out by the master of pleasing prospects, only three have remained in Venice. Hundreds more are in private collections dotted about the most desirable country houses of England. Even today, finding the scenes that Canaletto painted in Venice isn't hard and, perhaps reassuringly, the prospects he painted have changed little. Most of his views were of the Grand Canal, St Mark's Square and the Rialto; strip away the characters in the foreground and add some contemporary tourists and a few vaporetti and the transformation would be almost complete. I say almost, because when you do compare reality to art, it is clear Canaletto knew how to keep his customers happy.

Early works tended to reflect the dilapidation that was already afflicting the city. Later views show a tendency to idealisation – straightening the odd tottering campanile and opening out the occasional view. But the world he inhabited, and which is perhaps more interesting than the idealised postcards brought home by the revellers, takes a little more unearthing. The best insight is not through Canaletto's work but that of his contemporary, Pietro Longhi. He recorded, not the formal views and processions of Venice but the everyday life of its aristocracy – the gambling houses, the music lessons, the masked parties, flirtations, and visits to the tailor. He was the city's Hogarth and it is no accident that these were the pictures bought by Venetians and which, for the most part, remain in the city. The National Gallery has five Longhis – including his A Lady Receiving a Cavalier, and picture of the masked aristocrats visiting a rhinoceros called Exhibition of a Rhinoceros at Venice (all located in room 39).

But if you want to see more, and get a real feel for Venice at the peak of its pleasures, you will want to visit the place for yourself. Here is how to find Canaletto's – and Longhi's – Venice. In pictures: Canaletto's Venice The Grand Canal Gondola Ride Gondolas were the main form of transport for the wealthy in the 18th century and remain the best way to see the palazzi as they were meant to be seen – from the water. Gondola design has changed very little since except they were often hooded so that the occupants could not be seen. As a result, they became a favourite venue for entertaining courtesans. You can take a ride in the open version from many points along the Grand Canal, especially near St Mark's and the Rialto. There is an official fixed rate of €80 for 40 minutes, plus €40 for the next 20 minutes. For cheaper tastes, you can cross the Grand Canal on one of the traghetto gondolas which charge a couple of euros. You stand during the crossing.

Ca' Rezzonico This is one of the most impressive palazzi of the 18th century and hosted some of the most glittering social occasions. Left unfinished by the impoverished Bon family, it was bought by the Rezzonico clan, hugely wealthy arrivistes who had bought their title in the previous century. The Rezzonico family employed a fashionable architect named Massari to add another storey and equip it with an enormous ballroom, something lacked by all the other Grand Canal palazzi. It now houses a collection of 18th-century paintings including a whole room full of scenes by Longhi and a view by his fellow artist, Guardi, of the inside of a ridotto, or casino, complete with gamblers wearing masks. Admission €7; Casa Querini Stampalia This relatively modest palace just opposite Santa Maria Formosa was still in private hands until 150 years ago. Now it is endowed as a museum, is furnished and decorated in 18th-century style and has an excellent collection of paintings depicting the life and manners of the time, with many works by Longhi and his contemporary, Bella, who captured everyday street scenes with great charm and humour.

There are also a couple of paintings depicting the winter of 1779 when the lagoon and canals froze solid. Admission: €10; Canaletto's House This very modest casa is squeezed into the corner of a cramped courtyard off the Calle de la Malvasia in San Marco. It's not open to the public and there is not much to see, but it does raise the question, where did all the money go? One of the 18th-century's most prolific and sought-after artists never married, lived modestly, and left little in the way of property or other assets. Casino Venice still has a casino though it is hidden away in the top floor of a palazzi near the station and somehow the slot machines and roulette tables don't have the drama and glamour of the card tables of 300 years ago. However, you can get a taste of this at the Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal, near St Mark's Square, where the original public gambling room is still used for dinners and receptions. Ask at the front desk and they may let you look.

Caffè Florian The original Venice café, opened in 1720, was one of the key public meeting points for the Grand Tourists, and a favourite hunting ground for Casanova. Most tourists sit on the tables in St Mark's Square but the gilt and painted panels of the inside rooms is much more redolent of its historic past, cosier in winter and the drinks are cheaper – €7 for a coffee. ( ) Theatres In the 18th-century, Venice had seven opera houses and dozens of theatres. Nearly all are now gone but the Malibran, once the largest and most famous theatre in Europe, and the Fenice, built at the end of the 18th century and rebuilt after the fire in 1996, are of the most charming anywhere. Both still hold first-rank concerts and operas which are a great way to spend an evening in the city (see for information and tickets to both theatres). Carnival A shadow of its former self, but the atmosphere and the dressing up is highly enjoyable. In 2011 it runs from February 26 to March 8.

See Venice basics Canaletto and his Rivals, which shows more than 50 paintings of Venice by the artist and his contemporaries, opened at the Sainsbury Wing in the National Gallery ( ) this week. It continues until January 16 2011, admission £12. Nick Trend stayed at the Hotel Metropole ( ), which is in part of the former orphanage (the Ospedale della Pietà) where, from about 1703, Vivaldi taught the girls music for 30 years. The chapel, where his music was sung and performed, was in what is now the bar. Official rates for a double room from €210, b & b, but discounts and offers are available on the website. More information on Venice ( ) and the Veneto ( ) Specialtours (020 386 4690; ) is offering a seven-day tour of Canaletto's Venice on behalf of the Art Fund in March 2011. From £2,595 per person including flights from London, private transfers and most meals.

18th Century Rome and the Grand Tour 18th Century Rome and the Grand Tour Introduction/Origins The idea of the Grand Tour began in the mid 17th century gaining popularity throughout the 18th and 19th centuries continuing to this day as popular reference for travelers. Initially it was conceived as a mobile finishing school in art and manners. The custom was practiced by royalty and aristocratic families from Northern Europe and especially England, and later adopted by wealthy Americans. The latter shared a common enthusiasm for travel and recognized the benefits it could bring not the least of which would be to confer a pedigree of ï¿½good breedingï¿½ to the traveler. The Grand Tour was an opportunity for elevated social status, educational enhancement, new cultural experiences and adventure. The idea of a cultural pilgrimage was popularized by travel writers and chroniclers such as John Evelyn (1620-1706) and earlier by Richard Lassels (1603-1668), a Roman Catholic priest who wrote The Voyage of Italy, published in Paris in 1670 and is credited with having coined the term.

The Grand Tour could take extended periods of time and would last, depending upon oneï¿½s wealth and inclination, several months and even years. A retinue of servants would attend to the travelerï¿½s needs, the number depending on status and economic resources. This artistic pilgrimage reached its height during the 18th century which with some justification may be called the Age of the Grand Tour. The phenomenon gave birth to the modern tourism a condition which was accelerated in the 19th century with the rise of safer and more commodious forms of transportation like the railway. Italy and Rome as Destination The Italian peninsula was the primary destination for the Grand Tourist who was attracted to its cultural treasures, fascinating landscapes and cities and the promise of warmer climes and luminescent atmosphere. This especially included the artistic patrimony of cities such as Venice, the archeological sites surrounding Naples and its bay and most importantly Rome herself, the latter being the undisputed center of Western Civilization and the favorite destination for such a cultural journey. Rome was unsurpassed for its classical heritage, still visible in its picturesque ruins throughout the city and in museums and private collections.

Contemporary examples of Romeï¿½s artistic rebirth served no less as an important attraction as practicing artists and architects made Rome the most important cosmopolitan center in Europe and the virtual artistic capital of Europe. Unexcelled works of art and architecture by Renaissance and Baroque masters propelled the traveler as much as the classical past. Religious and secular architecture of great renown such as St. Peterï¿½s and the Spanish Steps were among the important attractions that would entice the traveler. There were at least two important aspects of the tour insofar as they addressed the visual arts. The first was to see first hand the great paintings, sculpture and architecture of the places visited. The second, and for our purposes more important, was to visit placesï¿½both landscape and cityscape--that gave birth to those treasures as if by experiencing Rome first hand one could better savor those works of art, divine its genius loci and commune with the great artists that created them.

As Joshua Reynolds observed in his Seven Discourses (1778), "Raphael did not have the benefit of studying in an Academy; but all of Rome, and the works of Michelangelo in particular, were for him an Academy.ï¿½ An 18th Century Postcard: Collecting and Reflecting Given the enthusiasm for all things Italian, it was quite natural that visitors should want to capture their experiences in a more permanent form, much as a big game hunter might want to return with a trophy of some wild animal. In order to preserve their impressions the well to do Grand Tourist would likely purchase one of the diminishing supply of original works of art by the masters (a desire which gave rise to a flourishing market in frauds). Barring this, they would commission contemporary artists to paint original works along set genres such as historical paintings, portraiture, landscape and city views or vedute. The most famous Roman portraitist of the century was Pompeo Batoni 1708-1787) who would typically surround his subject with appropriate props and city landscape which lent an air of authenticity. Others were commissioned to record those places of genius that gave birth to such treasures.

A growing taste and appreciation for the veduta on canvas or more affordable as a single engraving or as a complete volume of such printed matter became one of the prizes that could be easily carried home. Like their compatriots in Venice, Canaletto (1697-1768), Francesco Guardi 1712-1793) and Bernardo Bellotto (1720-1780), Roman artists of the late 17th and early 18th century tapped into this thriving market. Their realistic depictions of places in the city and its social life has left us with one of the most accurate and evocative pictures of the Eternal City ever created. Jim Tice, Erik Steiner, Allan Ceen, and Dennis Beyer Department of Architecture and InfoGraphics Lab, Department of Geography, University of Oregon Copyright © 2008 University of Oregon. All rights reserved. This website was made possible by a 2006-2007 grant from The Getty Foundation .

Painting From Bethesda Home Sold at Auction for $687,125 washingtonpost.com > Print Edition > Style Painting From Bethesda Home Sold at Auction for $687,125 An 18th-century Grand Canal painting, which was found in a local home, fetched $687,125. (Photo By Brian Searby -- Sloans & Kenyon) TOOLBOX Special to The Washington Post. Thursday, October 1, 2009 An 18th-century unsigned oil painting of the Grand Canal in Venice, estimated at a modest $6,000 to $8,000, sold for $687,125 Sunday afternoon at Sloans & Kenyon auction house in Chevy Chase. It is believed to be the most expensive painting ever sold at a Washington area auction. Thirteen phone bidders competed against live bidders in the gallery for this work from the "school of" the 18th-century artist Giovanni Antonio Canaletto. The auction company had received the piece from a Bethesda woman who has requested anonymity. The painting had been in the family since 1881, when her grandmother brought it back from Europe.

The grandmother had embarked on what was known in the day as a "Grand Tour," an excursion designed to expose the traveler to enlightenment, adventure, art and culture. Grand tourists, as the travelers were known, would typically return with artwork they acquired on the journey, which was considered an essential ritual for entry into British high society. "They didn't send postcards or bring back T-shirts," said Ellen Garrity, communications director at Sloans & Kenyon. "They brought back paintings." And so it was that the consignor's grandmother, identified in the catalogue as Mrs. Charles Alexander, made her tour as a young American woman. She probably acquired the painting while in London; a label on the back is from the gallery of Dowdeswell & Dowdeswells Ltd. on New Bond Street. And now? "This appears to be the highest price ever obtained for a work of art sold at auction in the metropolitan Washington area," Garrity said. The fresh-to-market find after nearly 130 years attracted nine phone bidders from Europe representing people in England, Italy, Scotland and Sweden. The first bid was $25,000.

After a flurry of escalating offers, it sold to a floor bidder, an agent for a London buyer, for $575,000 plus a 19.5 percent buyer's premium. "It is highly probable the painting is by Michele Marieschi," said London art dealer Charles Beddington, who was an adviser to the painting's runner-up, who stopped bidding at $550,000. Marieschi, another 18th-century artist, never signed his work and died young, Beddington said. Sold just minutes before the three-day sale ended, Lot 1505 was described as "School of Giovanni Antonio 'Il Canale' Canaletto (Italian 1697-1768) Grand Canal, Venice, With a View of the Doge's Palace." Its framed size is 22 inches by 33 inches. It is not dated. The Grand Canal in Venice was a favorite subject of Canaletto's and those who followed him. An original Canaletto is worth millions. Paintings by his associates, meanwhile, can fetch six figures.

In 2007, Sotheby's in London sold an original Canaletto oil of the Grand Canal for $9.7 million. In 2008, Christie's in London sold another Grand Canal view for $6.6 million. Sotheby's in London sold two other views of Venice painted in the style of Canaletto for $235,717 and $248,069 in 2007. Earlier this year, Sotheby's, New York, got $422,500 (hammer price, the price before taxes or commissions are added) for a view of Venice from the piazza from "the studio of" Canaletto. The low presale estimate for Sunday's painting -- less than $10,000 -- proved irresistible.

Sloans & Kenyon President Stephanie Kenyon explained why expectations were so modest: "With an unsigned painting of a high caliber, we estimate the work conservatively but expose it extensively and internationally, and then let the market decide." Before Sunday's auction, the most expensive painting the company had sold had been "Hampstead Heath, Looking Towards London" by British landscape artist John Constable (1776-1837). It brought $442,500 in April 1999 when the company operated as C.G. Sloan & Co., and was also sold to a London bidder. Like the Canaletto-style work, the Constable had been hanging on a wall of a Maryland home for many years. "It made pretty much what it should have," said Beddington of the painting sold Sunday. "It was a good result. The auction company should be happy." © 2009 The Washington Post Company

Question: Canaletto is famous for his 18th century paintings of which city?
Answer: Venice