For today’s tour, we visit gallery 31 on the Main Floor of the West Building which features examples of 17th and 18th Italian painting including two of Canaletto’s landscape paintings of Venice painted around 1742/1744.
Canaletto was born Giovanni Antonio Canal on October 17 or 18, 1697 in Venice. From a young age, he is believed to have assisted his father, a painter of theatrical scenery and a view painter. In the 1720’s, the artist established an independent career as a “pittor di vedute,” or view painter, and adopted the diminutive Canaletto (the little Canal) to distinguish his work from his father's.
The period between 1730 and 1742 was the most productive of Canaletto's career. He made almost all the paintings of Venice, for which he is best known, during this period. In his paintings, the artist aimed to present an accurate and detailed record of a particular scene. He achieved that by capturing the light, the life, the buildings, and the expanse of Venice with an unparalleled perception and luminosity that established his reputation as one of the greatest topographical painters of all time.
Each day during our temporary closure, join us as we take you on a tour, gallery by gallery. Learn more about Italian art from this period in the Gallery’s publication “Italian Paintings of the 17th and 18th Centuries,” one of several free backlist titles available on nga.gov: bit.ly/2WAENl1
Canaletto, The Square of Saint Mark's, Venice, 1742/1744, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Mrs. Barbara Hutton
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