Giovanni Canaletto

Giovanni Antonio Canal, better known as Canaletto, was an Italian artist revered for his beautiful, faithful paintings of cityscapes. Born in Venice to painter Bernardo Canal, Canaletto followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a theatrical scene painter. Soon after, however, he ventured into painting the daily life of Venice and its people in “vedute”—an Italian term meaning “view” that was used in the art world as a name for highly detailed, large-scale, cityscape paintings. Canaletto’s skill for creating grand scenes of Venice canals, palaces, and England’s countryside and cities made him admired by wealthy patrons and institutions in his lifetime as well as today.