Giovanni Antonio Canal, Called Canaletto
photo: sotheby’s
Property from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sold to Benefit the Acquisition Fund
This majestic bird's eye view of the landing stage in front of Santa Maria della Salute was likely painted in circa 1740, during the height of Canaletto's Venetian period. The warm sunlight and clear shadows evoke a peaceful afternoon on a clear day, as gondolas and merchant ships populate the Grand Canal and Venetians stroll in and out of the church, which is dedicated to the city's survival of the plague. Canaletto treated this recognizable view of the Salute several times: his earliest picture of the canal and the Salute from the west dates to the late 1720s, while his largest and most famous canvas of this subject dates to 1744 and is in the British Royal Collection.
