Lot Essay
The present drawing is close in composition to another in the Robert Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum, New York. Very little difference in the architecture is noticeable: the Campanile is placed slightly more to the left in the Lehman sheet, hiding more of the central cupola of the Basilica of San Marco, the base of which is visible in the present drawing. The main differences lie in the number and the scale of the figures under the arcades and the square. A greater attention to perspective seems to have been paid in the present drawing, especially in the precise rendering of the pavement and in the decreasing proportion of the figures receeding into the distance. The boy seated against the pillar of the arcade in the Lehman sheet is brought forward sitting to the kerb in the foreground. A couple of children are added on the present sheet next to the group of figures seen from behind with a senator. Most importantly the gentleman on the left hand side stands on his own while the young boy seated in the middle of the square from the Lehman sheet has disappeared.
These drawings, very close to each other in most respects, both derive, according to Constable and Links, from another drawing formerly in the Consul Smith collection, and now at Windsor Castle (K.T. Parker, op. cit., no. 57; Constable and Links, op. cit. , no. 525, pl. 37). Although very similar the Piazza is seen from a slightly different angle. It shows less of the campanile and far less of the Procuratie Vecchie. Besides, Canaletto omitted the lamps under the arcades, and there are fewer and sketchier figures. The general positioning of these figures is, however, closer to the present drawing than to the one in the Lehman drawing.
An architectural detail allows us to date the Lehman drawing to before 1746. The Torre dell'Orologio was altered in 1755 with a third storey added on both sides of the central tower. The three drawings would therefore date from the years before the artist's visit to London while the upright picture which makes use only of the left hand side of the composition, now in the National Gallery, London, would date, for stylistic and technical reasons, from the period after Canaletto's return to Venice from England.
A preparatory drawing for the two seated figures under the arcade and the standing one beside them is in the National Gallery, London, W.G. Constable and J.G. Links, op. cit., no. 841, illustrated. In the picture, the standing figure is seen holding a cup no doubt emanating from Café Florian situated nearby.
These drawings, very close to each other in most respects, both derive, according to Constable and Links, from another drawing formerly in the Consul Smith collection, and now at Windsor Castle (K.T. Parker, op. cit., no. 57; Constable and Links, op. cit. , no. 525, pl. 37). Although very similar the Piazza is seen from a slightly different angle. It shows less of the campanile and far less of the Procuratie Vecchie. Besides, Canaletto omitted the lamps under the arcades, and there are fewer and sketchier figures. The general positioning of these figures is, however, closer to the present drawing than to the one in the Lehman drawing.
An architectural detail allows us to date the Lehman drawing to before 1746. The Torre dell'Orologio was altered in 1755 with a third storey added on both sides of the central tower. The three drawings would therefore date from the years before the artist's visit to London while the upright picture which makes use only of the left hand side of the composition, now in the National Gallery, London, would date, for stylistic and technical reasons, from the period after Canaletto's return to Venice from England.
A preparatory drawing for the two seated figures under the arcade and the standing one beside them is in the National Gallery, London, W.G. Constable and J.G. Links, op. cit., no. 841, illustrated. In the picture, the standing figure is seen holding a cup no doubt emanating from Café Florian situated nearby.