The present sheet is a study for two finished drawings of San Giovanni dei Battuti on the island of Murano, the first of which, from Consul Smith's collection, is at Windsor Castle and the second in the Boymans Museum in Rotterdam, Constable and Links, op. cit., no. 655 and 655a, illustrated. These two drawings were, in turn, used for a picture in the Hermitage (Constable and Links, op. cit., no. 368, illustrated), another version of which is in a private collection in Chicago. The present drawing seems to relate more to the Windsor drawing, which is the closest to the picture.
Similarly to the drawing from the de Boer collection, sold in these Rooms, 4 July 1995, lot 70, where Canaletto recorded a chimney on the right but had to change its placement because he had run out of space, the portico on the present drawing is drawn higher but returned to its proper place in the other versions.
The present drawing was part of an album together with a number of sheets formerly in the Viggiano collection. A letter attached to the album stated the earlier provenance. W.G. Constable dates the pages of this album to 1745-6, just before Canaletto's departure for England.