NARRATOR:
During the 18th century, in the days before picture postcards, wealthy tourists in Venice bought painted views as souvenirs of their stay. This one is by Canaletto. Known for meticulous attention to detail, he was one of the greatest of all such vedutisti, or view painters.
If you’ve been to Venice, you’ll probably recognize the famous Piazzetta, just off Saint Mark’s Square. And you’ll be struck by how little it’s changed in the past two centuries. On the left, is the magnificent Renaissance library of San Marco. Dominating the square is the soaring bell tower, then, as now, providing tourists with a panoramic view of the city. At the far right is the ornate pink stone gothic façade of the Doge’s palace.
The Piazzetta has always been a place to see and be seen. Knots of fashionably dressed Venetians stand about the square chatting. On a raised platform near the center, street players try to attract an audience, while at the left, others gather to listen to a speaker.
The extraordinary precision of Canaletto’s views was admired not only by tourists, but by fellow painters too. One observed:
ITALIAN PAINTER (ACTOR):
“He paints with such accuracy and cunning that the eye is deceived, truly believing that it is the real thing and not a painting.”
The Piazzetta, Venice, Looking North
c. 1740
Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) (Italian, 1697-1768)
On View
Canaletto began his career as a scene painter in the Baroque theater, designing sets for operas. When he took up landscape, specifically cityscape, he maintained the most appealing qualities of theatrical illusion. Combining a keen interest in linear perspective with a limited palette, Canaletto depicted Venice from every possible vantage point, including this elevated view of the Piazzetta, which leads to the immense Piazza San Marco. The almost photographic impression of the scene results from Canaletto’s arrangement of highly structured forms, such as the white marble pavement design before the Marciana Library, at left, and the artful repetition of architectural elements, with their emphasis on receding horizontal and diagonal lines that converge on a single point: the Torre dell’Orologio.
Details
- Artist Name: Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) (Italian, 1697-1768)
- Title: The Piazzetta, Venice, Looking North
- Date: c. 1740
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 29-7/8 x 47-1/8 in. (75.9 x 119.7 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1964.2.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
Henry Fiennes Pelham Clinton (d. 1794), 2nd Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Clumber Park, Nottingham, by inheritance to;
Thomas (d. 1795), 3rd Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire, by inheritance to;
Henry Pelham Pelham-Clinton (d. 1851), 4th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Clumber Park, Nottingham, by inheritance to;
Henry Pelham Pelham-Clinton (d. 1864), 5th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Clumber Park, Nottingham, by inheritance to;
Henry Pelham Pelham-Clinton (d. 1879), 6th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Clumber Park, Nottingham, by inheritance to;
Henry Pelham Archibald Douglas Pelham-Clinton (d. 1928), 7th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Clumber Park, Nottingham, by inheritance to his nephew;
The Earl of Lincoln, Clumber Park, Worksop, Nottinghamshire (sale, London, Christie’s, 4 June 1937, lot 17, ill., as The Piazzetta of St. Marks, Venice, to);
[Frank Sabin, London];
Thomas Parrington, sold through;
[Arthur Tooth & Sons, London, sold July 1964 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
Thomas (d. 1795), 3rd Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire, by inheritance to;
Henry Pelham Pelham-Clinton (d. 1851), 4th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Clumber Park, Nottingham, by inheritance to;
Henry Pelham Pelham-Clinton (d. 1864), 5th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Clumber Park, Nottingham, by inheritance to;
Henry Pelham Pelham-Clinton (d. 1879), 6th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Clumber Park, Nottingham, by inheritance to;
Henry Pelham Archibald Douglas Pelham-Clinton (d. 1928), 7th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Clumber Park, Nottingham, by inheritance to his nephew;
The Earl of Lincoln, Clumber Park, Worksop, Nottinghamshire (sale, London, Christie’s, 4 June 1937, lot 17, ill., as The Piazzetta of St. Marks, Venice, to);
[Frank Sabin, London];
Thomas Parrington, sold through;
[Arthur Tooth & Sons, London, sold July 1964 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
[on loan]
- London, British Institution, 1853-06 to
- Constable, W. G., Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697-1768,no. 66 pp. 210-211
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best,2010, cat. 229 p. 273
- Norton Simon Museum, Selected Paintings at the Norton Simon Museum,1980, p. 70
- Seldis, Henry J., Art in America, pp. 96, 100
- Understanding Paintings: Themes in Art Explored and Explained, pp. 16, 177
- Pignatti, Terisio, Canaletto,no. 35
- Bindman, David; and Lionello Puppi, The Complete Paintings of Canaletto,no. 86D p. 98
- Corboz, André, Venezia immaginaria del Canaletto, p. ?
- Brommer, Gerald F.; and Nancy Kinne, Exploring Painting, p. 188
- Morse, John D., Old Master Paintings in North America,1979, p. 44
- Constable, W. G., Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697-1768, pp. 210-211, 217-218
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum,1989, p. 101
- Catalogue of the pictures, being part of the Clumber Collection,
- Fondazione Bracco, Il Vedutismo Venziano: Una Nuova Visione,2011, Fig. 16 p. 92
- McCorquodale, Charles, The Connoisseur,fig. C pp. 210-212
- Illustrated London News, p. 1006
- Renato Miracco, Italian Treasures in the U.S. An Itinerary of Art,2014, p. #43
- Willis, F. Roy, Western Civilization: An Urban Perspective, cover
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