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This exhibition is in the past. View our current exhibitions.
Preparatory drawings of the Piazza San Marco
Canaletto first met Smith in the early 1720s. Already a keen collector, Smith’s first commission from the artist was a set of six large paintings of views around Piazza San Marco, the civic and religious heart of Venice. These drawings are preparatory studies for the paintings. The compositions were arranged in pairs, with the architectural masses balanced on opposing sides of each pair.