Doge’s Palace

Canaletto’s graphic work is by no means extensive. It consists of 35 etchings combined into the collection Vedute altre prese da i Luoghi altre ideate da Antonio Canal [...]. Connoisseurs of Canaletto’s work are not entirely in agreement as to the dating of the collection. According to some scholars, the artist already took up etching in the 1730s, while others claim that he produced the ensemble in the 1740s. There are also those who maintain that all the prints could not have been completed before 1751. Not only Venetian real sites served as models for the individual plates. Some images are, in fact, capriccios. Although graphic art is represented only marginally in Canaletto’s work, his etchings document not only the artist’s technical skill, but above all his talent for this type of artistic expression. The etchings produced by Canaletto belongs with the most outstanding manifestations of graphic art of the 18th century in Italy.