To travelers in the 18th century, Venice, Italy was a city of delight
and wonder. Tourists were enchanted by its unique beauty and luxurious
lifestyle. They demanded paintings of the city as mementos of their
travels. Canaletto was one of the most successful and popular painters
of these scenes. He painted carefully accurate
"portraits" of his environment.
Wealthy people in the 18th century loved to travel. They were
especially interested in exploring the ancient monuments and works
of art in Italy. Many travelers came from England, which was then
the wealthiest country of the Western world. People took "The Grand
Tour," which included visits to the main cities and sights of Europe.
The Grand Tour was considered an important part of any gentleman's
and, occasionally, gentlewoman's, education.
Topographical painting, or the portraiture
of places, was a popular kind of painting in these days. Just as
people today collect postcards of their trips, travelers in the
18th century wanted pictures as souvenirs of the places they had
visited and the sights they had seen. Some tourists even brought
artists with them to paint whatever scenes they fancied. Vedute
(veh-doo-tay), or view paintings, became popular. The best and most
valuable vedute paintings were those that looked like the real scenes.
Venice was the main center of topographical painting in 18th-century
Italy. Its winding canals and romantic gondolas
made it an exciting place to visit. Venice's public and religious
celebrations were thought to be the most magnificent in Europe.
These frequent festivities were a part of the social life of every
person, rich or poor. Venice had a well-run government, which provided
for the safety and health of visitors, and its hotels were believed
to be the best in Europe.
Canaletto shows us a view of Venice's main canal,
called the Grand Canal, which winds its way through the city. Venice
has many canals, which are used, like roads, to travel through the
city. The Grand Canal was lined with palaces, warehouses and churches.
It was a fashionable place for a walk. Canaletto included many details
and well-known buildings in this painting. He wanted his painting
to look like a mirror held up to the canal.
Perspective lines in
Canaletto's painting of the Grand Canal
In order to create the illusion of depth in this realistic painting
of the Grand Canal, Canaletto tried to imitate how the human eye
perceives the environment. Buildings and gondolas that are further
away appear less detailed, edges loose their sharpness, and colors
become more muted in the distance. This technique is called atmospheric
Canaletto also used linear perspective
in this painting. Linear perspective uses a system of converging
lines to represent the height of objects as they get further away.
For example, the line along the top of the buildings on the left
side of the canal gradually grows closer to the line along the edge
of the water. If both lines were extended slightly further, they
would eventually intersect. The sizes of the buildings decrease
according to these lines, getting progressively smaller the further
away they are, much like this scene would appear in person.
waterway built for passage from one place to another.
long narrow boat used on the canals in Venice, Italy.
variety of techniques used to create the illusion of three-dimensional
space on a flat surface by mimicking the effects of distance on
human perception. Perspective shows depth and make objects appear
three-dimensional on a two-dimensional surface.
style of art that represent nature accurately as seen by the human
type of art using realistic and accurate detail to record a scene
or particular place. Often called "the portraiture of places."
painting, drawing, or print of a whole or particular view of a town
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