Delphi Collected Works of Canaletto Read online

  The canvas depicts a mill on the Brenta, near Dolo, where we can see a view towards the east from a tall house located on the dam in the river. The sun shines from the west, as indicated by the shadow — falling to the right in the foreground — of the house where the artist sat. On the left of the quay, lined with prominent houses, the inn and the campanile of San Rocco, we can see the land stretch in a wide curve. On the other side of the Brenta, free-standing buildings and a covered wharf feature in the scene. In the background a ‘burchiello’ boat, with a striped cover, glides along the bend at the right, and a third boat with a red roof disappears around the corner.

  The mill complex takes up the foreground of the canvas, as two unused millstones lie against the wall in the shadow. It is late afternoon and the villagers seem to have finished their work for the day. One worker rests on a sack of flour, while another starts fishing; several figures have chosen to converse leisurely with each other. A lady dressed in red is greeted by a couple, whose servant protects them from the sun with a parasol. This group in particular attracts our attention, due to the bright, costly allure of their garments. They are apparently prosperous townsfolk out for a visit in the country. There is a sharp contrast between the finery of this group and the dull rags worn by the resting workers.

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  A scene at Dolo today

  ROME: ARCH OF CONSTANTINE

  In 1742 Canaletto was commissioned by Smith to produce a series of five paintings of Roman subjects. It is uncertain whether they were based on a recent visit to the city or sketches the artist had made while visiting Rome in 1720. It is possible that he was inspired by prints of Roman buildings and ruins in Smith’s extensive collection.

  Rome: Arch of Constantine, now held in Windsor’s Royal Collection, presents a view of the arch built by the Emperor Constantine in the fourth century to commemorate his victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312. Dedicated in 315, it is the largest Roman triumphal arch. The view is altered from its actual appearance, as the friezes and inscriptions are on the north side, though they are painted as seen from the south. We can also see the church of San Pietro in Vincoli and to the right the ruins of the Colosseum tower above. A group of figures in the foreground, most likely Grand Tourists that have come to admire the ancient glories of the city, communicate with wide smiles, while one of the figures points with his stick in the direction of the Colosseum, emphasising the information he is giving to the others.

  A seated figure on the left, who has beside him a portfolio and ruler, may well be intended as a self portrait. Canaletto’s name is inscribed on the stone beside this figure, confirming his authorship and the date of the painting, in a grand manner emulating the carvings on the ancient monument.

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  South side of the arch today, with the Colosseum to right

  LONDON: WESTMINSTER BRIDGE FROM THE NORTH ON LORD MAYOR’S DAY

  Canaletto’s art market in the 1740’s was disrupted when the War of the Austrian Succession led to a reduction in the number of British visitors to Venice. His patron Smith arranged for the publication of a series of etchings, but the returns were not high enough and in 1746 Canaletto decided to move to London to be closer to the demand for his work. He remained in England until 1755, producing numerous views of London and his various patrons’ castles and houses.

  The artist was often expected to paint England in the fashion with which he had painted his native city, in spite of the difference between the northern country’s sky and light. Some critics argue that Canaletto’s painting began to suffer from repetitiveness, losing its fluidity and becoming mechanical. This criticism went so far that the English art critic George Vertue suggested that the man painting under the name ‘Canaletto’ was in fact an impostor. Canaletto was compelled to give public painting demonstrations in order to refute the claim, though his reputation was seriously damaged by the attack.

  His earliest paintings of London concern the new Westminster Bridge, which he portrayed from various viewpoints. The bridge was not actually completed until four years after the following canvas was painted. In order to portray the whole panorama, Canaletto adopts an imaginary vantage point high above the River Thames. The painting provides a detailed view of the bridge’s entire span amidst the setting of Venetian-esque festivities, celebrating the appointment of the new Lord Mayor of London, though these revels appear less flamboyant than in the spectacles he painted in Italy. A large City Barge is transporting the mayor to Westminster Hall, beside the Abbey to the right, where he will be officially sworn in. To the left of the horizon, we can see the prominent St. John’s Church, Smith Square, whilst on the opposite side of the river Canaletto’s depicts Lambeth Palace, the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Many of the spectacular barges are firing salutes to honour the new mayor.

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  Contemporary map of Westminster and Lambeth. Westminster Bridge, opened in 1740, connected Westminster to Lambeth.

  The current Westminster Bridge

  LONDON: WHITEHALL AND THE PRIVY GARDEN FROM RICHMOND HOUSE

  The following plate, along with its companion painting The Thames and the City of London from Richmond House, are among the most widely admired canvases completed by Canaletto during his stay in England. Commissioned by the Duke of Richmond, they were most likely based on sketches made by the artist from the upper windows of the Duke’s London home, Richmond House. Canaletto depicts the Duke with a servant in the courtyard in the lower right.

  The painting illustrates a view of the Privy Garden of the Palace of Whitehall, which was a large enclosed space in Westminster, originally designed as a pleasure garden for the late Tudor and Stuart monarchs. The Privy Garden was created under Henry VIII and was expanded and improved under his successors, though it lost its royal patronage after the Palace of Whitehall was almost totally destroyed by fire in 1698.

  Canaletto’s rendering of the garden is observed with crisp detail, creating a vivid record of London during the reign of George II. The artist later reinterpreted the scene from a lower viewpoint with an even wider panorama, including a view of the Thames to the left.

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  The companion piece: ‘The Thames and the City of London from Richmond House’

  Depiction of the Palace of Whitehall by Leonard Knijff, with the Privy Garden visible on the left, c.1695

  WARWICK CASTLE

  The medieval Warwick Castle was developed from an original fortification built by William the Conqueror in 1068 and rebuilt in stone in the twelfth century. Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, is situated on a bend of the River Avon. During the Hundred Years War, the facade opposite the town was refortified, resulting in one of the most recognisable examples of fourteenth century military architecture. The castle was used as a stronghold until the early seventeenth century, when it was granted to Sir Fulke Greville by James I in 1604. Greville converted it into a country house and remained with the Greville family, who became Earls of Warwick in 1759, until 1978 when it was bought by the Tussauds Group.

  Warwick was visited on at least two occasions by Canaletto, first in 1748 and then later in 1752. Francis Greville, Lord Brooke, the fragile future Earl of Warwick, had set out on his Grand Tour in 1735. He spent much of his Italian trip feeling unwell. Orphaned at only eight years of age, he was raised by his aunt, Frances Seymour, wife of the Earl of Hertford, and he became close friends with their daughter, Elizabeth. She later married Sir Hugh Smithson, Duke of Northumberland, for whom Canaletto provided a series of paintings of the newly constructed Westminster Bridge and this may well be the connection that led to the commission. Lord Brooke had recently undertaken a project of improvement on both Wa
rwick Castle and the newly landscaped grounds designed by ‘Capability’ Brown. It is thought that the commission, eventually amounting to five oil paintings and three pen and ink drawings, was originally to furnish Lord Brooke’s London home to allow him to present the newly improved castle to his London cronies.

  The following view of the castle from the south front is portrayed from the Castle Meadow, with the Castle Mound to the left and the town of Warwick to the right. The thin band of blue is the River Avon, while the extended view of the Meadow allows the artist to create depth in his image, emphasised by the two spanning bridges, the furthest of which is foreshortened by the artist. The scattered and various figures on the Meadow demonstrate a range of occupations and visitors. Much like the Warwick Castle of today, which constantly receives flocks of tourists, the medieval building receives much attention. Several figures in different areas of the canvas gesture with awe towards the castle, adding a sense of grandeur to the scene, which Lord Brooke would have greatly appreciated.

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  Another view of the south front by Canaletto

  Warwick Castle today

  WESTMINSTER ABBEY WITH A PROCESSION OF KNIGHTS OF THE BATH

  Still held by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey, this 1749 painting illustrates the procession of newly installed Knights of the Order from Westminster Abbey to the House of Lords, which took place on 20 June 1749. Canaletto was commissioned to paint the picture by Joseph Wilcocks, Dean of Westminster.

  The Order of the Bath, one of the oldest English chivalric orders, is thought to have been founded in 1399. In the composition, the knights have emerged from the west end of the Abbey, walking past St. Margaret’s church, beyond which can be seen the roof of Westminster Hall. The Abbey is shown following its recent restoration and the construction of the two west towers, which was completed by the architects Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor. The canvas was most likely commissioned to celebrate this event. The resplendent figures of the knights add gravitas to the scene, though they are stilted in arrangement, with their scale in relation to the architecture not entirely convincing, suggesting that the artist himself may not have witnessed the scene, but worked from sketches of the procession. However, the comprehensive array of spectators in the foreground, obscured in the right corner by deft shade, signals the work of a master at the height of his powers.

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  The same view today

  OLD WALTON BRIDGE

  The first Walton Bridge, built across the River Thames between Walton-on-Thames and Shepperton in Surrey, was paid for by local landowner Samuel Dicker, the MP for Plymouth, who owned plantations in Jamaica. Dicker obtained the right to build the bridge and to collect tolls by Act of Parliament in 1747. The design of the bridge was by William Etheridge, who also designed the smaller but similar Mathematical Bridge across the River Cam at Queens’ College, Cambridge and had been responsible for the construction of many of the timber centres of the Westminster Bridge, while working as James King’s foreman. The Old Walton Bridge was supported by four central stone piers connected by three arches built of wooden beams and joists. The span of the central arch was 130 feet (39 m), at the time the widest unsupported span in England. Although considered an impressive feat of engineering at the time of its construction, the bridge stood for only thirty-three years. Dicker died in London in 1760 and his estates in the area were sold. The bridge passed to his nephew, Michael Dicker Sanders, but he found it difficult to meet the costs of its upkeep. A report on the condition of the bridge in 1778 suggested that the decay in the wooden frame made it unsuitable for use and it was dismantled in 1783 to make way for a stone-clad brickwork bridge. The sixth and current Walton Bridge was opened on 22 July 2013. It is a tied arch crossing, providing the first single-span bridge heading up the Thames.

  Some time after 1750, Canaletto travelled to Walton to produce a painting of the bridge. He had previously depicted one of Etherbridge’s constructions in 1747 as the framing span of The City Seen Through an Arch of Westminster Bridge. Though the figures featured in his landscapes were usually anonymous, his painting of Old Walton Bridge, held in the Dulwich Picture Gallery, represents several identifiable figures. In the centre of the painting on the near bank, two figures can be seen standing together; to the left is Thomas Hollis, who commissioned the painting. It is likely that Hollis selected the image from a sketch in Canaletto’s portfolio, as the painting omits the stone abutments that were added in 1751. To Hollis’ right is Thomas Brand, his lifelong friend and heir. Further to the right, dressed in colourful livery, is Hollis’ servant, Francesco Giovannini, and at the feet of Hollis is his dog, Malta. The canvas bears the inscription on the reverse: ‘Made in the year 1754 in London for the first and last time with the utmost care at the request of Mr. Hollis, my most esteemed patron — Antonio del Canal, called Canaletto.’

  Seated a little distance from the central group on the left, with a cow looking over his shoulder, is the artist Canaletto himself. A ship on the river is lowering its sail in order to pass under the bridge. With the towering storm clouds forming above the bridge, Canaletto contrasts the forces of nature with the work of engineering. Samuel Dicker’s house at Mount Felix can be seen in the background to the left of the bridge, but Dicker — most likely after viewing Hollis’ painting — commissioned a different view of the bridge in 1755, in which his house can be seen more clearly, as well as the full extent of the bridge works that he had funded, including the stone abutments.

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  The bridge depicted in a review of 1750

  The new bridge today

  ETON COLLEGE CHAPEL

  Built in the late Gothic style, the main chapel of Eton College, an independent school near Windsor, was planned to be over double its current length, but it was never completed owing to the downfall of the founder Henry VI. Only the Quire of the intended building was completed. Eton’s first Headmaster, William Waynflete, founder of Magdalen College, Oxford and previously Head Master of Winchester College, built the ante-chapel that finishes the Chapel today. The important wall paintings in the Chapel and the brick north range of the present School Yard also date from the 1480’s; the lower storeys of the cloister, including College Hall, had been built between 1441 and 1460.

  Canaletto chose to depict the college and chapel from the east, across from the River Thames. A number of nearby buildings appear to have been invented by the artist, and the scene as a whole, which follows a surviving drawing, appears to be a capriccio painting — a subtle variation of the true scene. As Canaletto visited and painted nearby Windsor Castle in 1747, he may have made a study of Eton College then, which he later opted to portray in oil with other features. Though the scene may not be a precise record, it is still a carefully composed painting, with the framing device of the tree to the left and the effect of the darkened foreground leading our eye into the middle-distance being accomplished devices used by the artist.

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  A contemporary etching of the chapel

  The chapel today

  PIAZZA SAN MARCO LOOKING EAST FROM THE SOUTH WEST CORNER

  It is believed Canaletto returned to Venice at some point in 1756. Joseph Smith bought only one painting from Canaletto during this period and by 1762 he had sold his collection to George III. In his later paintings Canaletto’s imagination and technical skill are seldom displayed, as he often fell back on ideas from earlier work for his subjects. The following painting complements its companion picture, Piazza San Marco: Looking East from the North-West Corner, which is also housed in the National Gallery, London. Both are painted in what has been called Canaletto’s late ‘calligraphic’ style, in which he use
s a system of dots and curved lines in order to place details such as highlights on figures. The Campanile and San Marco are presented from beneath the colonnade of the Procuratie Nuove. The figures in the foreground draw our immediate attention, as two seated men converse, while another attends their words, holding a coffee cup. He has most likely wandered from the nearby Café Florian, a celebrated social meting place at the time, having been founded in 1720. The spontaneity of the scene is heightened by the relaxed and casual attitude of the figures that lounge away their hours. Unlike in the earlier canvases, where figures are often seen gesticulating in wonder at the architectural treasures surrounding them, these subjects seem much more interested in their day-to-day dealings with each other than the fine surrounding buildings.