Book Description

Giovanni Antonio Canal (1697-1768), known as Canaletto, is one of the mostopular of all old master painters. His views of Venice and London are muchelebrated and admired. First published in 1982, this revised book tracesanaletto's career from his beginnings as a scene-painter with his father tohe work of his later years in artists. Canaletto was interested in depictinghe world around him, but unlike most of his fellow artists, but he was morehan a mere recorder of the amazing scenery of Venice or of Georgian England.;e had the power, in the words of one of his contemporaries, to paint so thatthe eye is deceived and truly believes it is the real thing it sees", andis insight and technical skills were so dazzling that it was thought he mustely on some sort of optical apparatus. His first views of Venice wereainted around 1725 for Stefano Conti of Lucca. Soon after he came intoontact with Joseph Smith, British Consul in Venice, who was to become hisost important patron. Through Smith's influence, he came to England betweenbout 1746 and 1756 during which time he painted many London scenes including