Giovanni Battista Canal or Canale (1745 – 5 December 1825) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

painter of the late Baroque and early Neoclassical era, active mainly depicting history and sacred subjects in his native

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

Biography

His father, Fabio Canal, was a fresco painter that was a follower of

Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...

. Giovanni Battista was criticized for his celeritude in fresco painting, which led to a nickname of ''fa presto''. He too was strongly echoed by the light colors of Tiepolo, but lacked the skill in design of the great master. Giovanni Battista was initially trained by his father and then at the Academy of Fine Arts, Venice, where he would also teach from 1783 to 1807. He was made an academic in 1776. He was active throughout the Veneto, and also in Ferrara and

Udine Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with t ...

. Among his works were the ceiling of the church of Sant'Eufemia in the Giudecca. In 1776, he painted for the church of Fonte in

Asolo Asolo () is a town and '' comune'' in the Veneto Region of northern Italy. It is known as "The Pearl of the province of Treviso", and also as "The City of a Hundred Horizons" for its mountain settings. History The town was originally a settlem ...

. He painted ''Storia d'amore'' in villa Viola of Treviso; frescoes (1790) for the Palazzo Mocenigo a San Stae in Venice; frescoes (1804) for the Palazzo Filodrammatici of

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Ven ...

; and a ''Martyrdom of Santi Gervasio e Protasio'' (1822) for the church of San Trovaso in Treviso. In later years, he collaborated with the neoclassical

quadratura Illusionistic ceiling painting, which includes the techniques of perspective ''di sotto in sù'' and ''quadratura'', is the tradition in Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo art in which ''trompe-l'œil'', perspective tools such as foreshortening, an ...

painter

Giuseppe Borsato Giuseppe Borsato (14 February 1771 in Venice – 15 October 1849 in Venice) was an Italian painter, primarily of vedute. Known for his work as the architect, decorator, and painter to the French Imperial Court in Venice. Life and works From ...

. He also lost his sight in later years, but his impoverishment forced him to continue to paint.Encyclopedia Treccani
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 17 (1974), entry on Giovanni Battista by Luigi Menegazzi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canal, Giovanni Battista 1745 births 1825 deaths Painters from Venice 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 19th-century Italian painters Italian Baroque painters Italian neoclassical painters 19th-century Italian male artists 18th-century Italian male artists