The Grand Canal, Venice, Looking South toward the Rialto Bridge

Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Italian

Not on view

Canaletto's painting depicts Venice's business and commercial center. The distant building with an arcade at ground level and many chimneys is the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, which served as the warehouse of German merchants. Just to the right is the foot of the Rialto Bridge, and further to the right is the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi. Then, as now, the rose-colored buildings and the spaces in front housed fruit and fish markets. This canvas is from a series of twenty view paintings that Canaletto probably painted for Joseph Smith (ca. 1674–1770), British consul in Venice from 1744 to 1760.

The Grand Canal, Venice, Looking South toward the Rialto Bridge, Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) (Italian, Venice 1697–1768 Venice), Oil on canvas

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