''The Grand Canal in Venice from Palazzo Flangini to Campo San Marcuola'' is a painting by

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or ...

in the

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood, Los Angeles, Brentwood neighborhood ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Painted around 1738, it may have been commissioned by the English merchant and art collector

Joseph Smith (1682–1770) Joseph Smith (c. 1682 – Venice, 6 November 1770), often known as Consul Smith, was the British consul at Venice from 1744 to 1760. Dates given in the ''London Gazette'' prior to 1752 are old style, by modern standards, with the year beginning ...

Description

The composition depicts the upper reaches of the Grand Canal near the entrance to the Cannaregio Canal. It is a typical example of the ''vedute'' paintings popular with

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

travelers as a visual record of their stay in Venice. The viewer's vantage point is in the middle of the canal, surrounded by

gondola The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull ...

s, barges, and the buildings lining the banks. Many of the structures depicted by Canaletto still stand today, for example Palazzo Flangini, the building at far left, which retains its off-center entrance portal. To the right of the palace, the

lantern A lantern is an often portable source of lighting, typically featuring a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle or a wick in oil, and often a battery-powered light in modern timesto make it easier to carry and h ...

on the dome of the church of

San Geremia San Geremia is a church in Venice, northern Italy, located in the ''sestiere'' of Cannaregio. The apse of the church faces the Grand Canal (Venice), between the Palazzo Labia and the Palazzo Flangini, Venice, Palazzo Flangini. The edifice is popul ...

is visible, followed by the gabled ''canonica'' (rectory) of San Geremia. The trees appearing over a garden wall mark the corner of the Grand Canal and the Cannaregio Canal, which branches off to the left. The garden belongs to

Palazzo Labia Palazzo Labia is a baroque palace in Venice, Italy. Built in the 17th–18th century, it is one of the last great palazzi of Venice. Little known outside of Italy, it is most notable for the remarkable frescoed ballroom painted 1746–47 by Giova ...

, the first building on the Cannaregio Canal, adjacent to San Geremia but hidden from view in the painting. The very last building visible in the background of the painting is Palazzo Vendramin Calergi, partly cut off due to the canal's curve to the right. The painting also records the ''traghetto'', a ferry service using row boats that was the primary means of crossing the Grand Canal prior to the construction of most of the bridges that span it today. One such boat is seen departing from the Riva di Biasio in the foreground at right, while another is prominently shown in the middle of the canal.

Related works

Later versions of this composition are in the

Minneapolis Institute of Arts The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United State ...

, ''Grand Canal from Palazzo Flangini to Palazzo Bembo'', about 1740, and the

Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wallace, who built the extensive collection, along w ...

, London, ''Venice: the Grand Canal from the Palazzo Flangini to San Marcuola'', about 1740–50. Canaletto's nephew

Bernardo Bellotto Bernardo Bellotto (c. 1721/2 or 30 January 172117 November 1780), was an Italian urban landscape painter or ''vedutista'', and printmaker in etching famous for his ''vedute'' of European cities – Dresden, Vienna, Turin, and Warsaw. He was ...

painted an enlarged replica with minor variations around 1740–41. The painting was engraved by

Antonio Visentini View of Piazza San Marco in Venice, by Antonio Visentini (1742). Antonio Visentini (21 November 1688 – 26 June 1782) was an Italian architectural designer, painter and engraver, known for his architectural fantasies and ''capricci'', t ...

for the second edition of Venetian views after Canaletto, published in 1742.''Urbis Venetiarum prospectus celebriores'', Venice: Pasquali, 1742, part 2, plate 3.

Notes

External links

Video on Canaletto's ''Grand Canal'' as depicted in the 18th century and today
from the J. Paul Getty Museum
''Venice: The Grand Canal from the Palazzo Flangini to San Marcuola''
at the Wallace Collection, London
''Grand Canal from Palazzo Flangini to Palazzo Bembo''
at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
''The Grand Canal in Venice from Palazzo Flangini to Campo San Marcuola''
at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
''Grand Canal from Palazzo Flangini to Palazzo Bembo''
at Artsconnected
Audio commentary from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
at Artsconnected {{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Canal in Venice from Palazzo Flangini to Campo San Marcuola, The 1738 paintings 1738 in the Republic of Venice Paintings in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum Paintings of Venice by Canaletto Maritime paintings Paintings of Venice

Description

Related works

Notes

Further reading

External links