The Grand Canal in Venice. A View of the Palazzo Foscari from the Rialto Bridge

Unknown artist After Antonio Canaletto (1697–1768)

18th/19th c. Oil on canvas

At the end of the 16th century, aristocrats decided that a good classic education included visits to the cultural capitals of Europe: Paris, Florence, Venice, and - first and foremost - Rome. The grand tour tradition initiated by the British nobility remained viable for the next 300 years, spreading among the wealthy upper classes from one country to another (including America). As travelling became more popular, the need increased for gifts and souvenir pictures depicting views of towns (veduta, Italian for view) or famous sites (monuments).

Antonio Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio da Canale) is one of the best known veduta masters in art history. His paintings skilfully combine topographically precise cityscapes with a shimmering atmosphere. Canaletto’s Venetian canal views were particularly loved among 18th-century British aristocrats. His Venetian street views were repeated by himself, copied by his studio, and issued as engravings, which, in turn, served as models for innumerable paintings of various levels of craftsmanship.

The Grand Canal in Venice. A View South-East from the Rialto Bridge towards Palazzo Foscari

1735. Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

The Grand Canal in Venice. A View of the Palazzo Foscari from the Rialto Bridge

In 1728–1735 the series of engravings by Antonio Visentini (1688–1782) “Urbis Venetiarum Prospectus Celebriores ex Antonii Canal” was issued based on Canaletto’s vedutes of Venice. The publication was organised by the British consul in Venice, Joseph Smith (1682–1735). An improved reprint was published in the 1750s.