CANALETTO (VENICE 1697-VENICE 1768)
Piazza San Marco looking East towards the Basilica and the Campanile
c.1723-4RCIN 405934
Canaletto’s early stage training is evident in these paintings’ monumental scale, with their daring perspective and low viewpoints. The skies are dramatic and the paint broadly and fluidly handled. The scenes are punctuated by blocks of dark and light, the figures carefully posed like actors on a stage. Canaletto drastically reduced the size of the Campanile, so that it does not overwhelm San Marco.