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Lot Essay
The Cannaregio canal was the principal northwest route into Venice from the mainland during the 18th century. The present view shows its entrance off the Grand Canal, with the church and campanile of San Geremia to the left and the Palazzo Querini detti Papozze along with the low façade of the Palazzo Emo to the right. Spanning the opening of the canal is the Ponte delle Guglie with the four obelisks (guglie) after which it was named. The church of San Geremia, shown here prior to its remodelling by Carlo Corbellini between 1753 and 1760, stands before the Palazzo Labia, which was built at the very end of the 17th century for a recently ennobled Catalan family. The Labia family launched an ambitious decorative scheme within their palazzo, employing Giovanni Battista Tiepolo to paint a scheme of large-scale frescoes between 1746 and 1747 to decorate the ballroom. Further up the canal, beyond the Ponte delle Guglie, the buildings of the former Jewish Ghetto can be seen.
Canaletto’s renowned depictions of Venice were hugely popular across Europe during the 18th century, especially after the painter’s sojourn in England between 1746 and 1755. The present work is largely based on a view by Canaletto, painted as part of series of twelve images of the Grand Canal, now in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen of England (RCIN 400532). These works formed the basis for the fourteen engraved plates published by Visentini in his Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum (Venice, 1735; fig. 1). The engravings provide a terminus post quem for the paintings, which likely date to around 1730. The pictures formed a significant part of the collection of the British Consul to Venice, Joseph Smith (c. 1682-1770), Canaletto’s most important patron, and were later sold to King George III in 1762. Significantly for the present work, Canaletto added to his painting a balustrade on the left waterfront along with a statue of Saint John of Nepomuk shortly after its construction in 1742. These details do not appear in the present English version of the composition, suggesting that it was either painted from the original between c. 1730 and 1742 or that the composition was based on Visentini’s engraving of Canaletto’s picture.
Canaletto’s renowned depictions of Venice were hugely popular across Europe during the 18th century, especially after the painter’s sojourn in England between 1746 and 1755. The present work is largely based on a view by Canaletto, painted as part of series of twelve images of the Grand Canal, now in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen of England (RCIN 400532). These works formed the basis for the fourteen engraved plates published by Visentini in his Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum (Venice, 1735; fig. 1). The engravings provide a terminus post quem for the paintings, which likely date to around 1730. The pictures formed a significant part of the collection of the British Consul to Venice, Joseph Smith (c. 1682-1770), Canaletto’s most important patron, and were later sold to King George III in 1762. Significantly for the present work, Canaletto added to his painting a balustrade on the left waterfront along with a statue of Saint John of Nepomuk shortly after its construction in 1742. These details do not appear in the present English version of the composition, suggesting that it was either painted from the original between c. 1730 and 1742 or that the composition was based on Visentini’s engraving of Canaletto’s picture.