In July 2021 my wife and I saw a beautiful exhibition of Canaletto paintings at the Holburne Gallery in Bath. These were paintings that normally hang in the Duke of Bedford's collection at Woburn Abbey. Most of them were of a medium size that Canaletto used frequently to fulfil commissions for his clients. He also produced some large and complex compositions that can be seen in the National Gallery, the Queen's Gallery and elsewhere. We decided that a copy of a Canaletto would be ideal for our living room.
Giovanni Antonio Canal was born in 1697. He became known as Canaletto (little Canal) to distinguish him from his father who was also a painter. He started off as a theatrical scene painter, partly in Rome, and then from 1719 onwards he developed his reputation with a large series of topographical paintings of Venice. These are often referred to by the name , the Italian word for view. They were particularly popular with
