Empire of Things
The painter and printmaker Canaletto (1697–1768) and his nephew, Bellotto, specialized in painting views of Venice and its environs for travelers on the Grand Tour, a trip through Europe associated with British nobility. In 1740–1741, Canaletto and Bellotto made a study trip along the Brenta Canal to Padua, a town located about forty kilometers west of Venice. This painting is one of numerous versions of an original composition that was likely conceived during that trip. Although the painting includes many identifiable Paduan buildings, it also includes imagined outlying structures, such as crumbling ruins overrun with plants. In this way, the painting serves not only as a Grand Tour souvenir, but also as a reminder of the passage of time, and that today’s cities will be tomorrow’s ruins.
Empire of Things
The painter and printmaker Canaletto (1697–1768) and his nephew, Bellotto, specialized in painting views of Venice and its environs for travelers on the Grand Tour, a trip through Europe associated with British nobility. In 1740–1741, Canaletto and Bellotto made a study trip along the Brenta Canal to Padua, a town located about forty kilometers west of Venice. This painting is one of numerous versions of an original composition that was likely conceived during that trip. Although the painting includes many identifiable Paduan buildings, it also includes imagined outlying structures, such as crumbling ruins overrun with plants. In this way, the painting serves not only as a Grand Tour souvenir, but also as a reminder of the passage of time, and that today’s cities will be tomorrow’s ruins.
Exhibition Label:
"Empire of Things," 2013, Kate Meyer
The painter and printmaker Canaletto (1697-1768) and his nephew, Bernardo Bellotto, specialized in painting views of Venice and its environs for travelers on the Grand Tour, a trip through Europe associated with British nobility. In 1740-41, Canaletto and Bellotto made a study trip along the Brenta Canal to Padua, a town located about forty kilometers west of Venice. This painting is one of numerous versions of an original composition that was likely conceived during that trip. Although the painting includes many identifiable Paduan buildings, it also includes imagined outlying structures, such as crumbling ruins overrun with plants. In this way, the painting serves not only as a Grand Tour souvenir, but also a reminder of the passage of time, and that today’s cities will be tomorrow’s ruins.
Archive Label 1999:
Paintings and engravings of Venetian views (vedute) were popular in the eighteenth century. Bernardo Bellotto and his uncle, called "il Canaletto," were especially known for painting pictorial records of picturesque vistas in Italy for European-and particularly English-tourists. In addition to faithful reproductions of existing architecture and landscape, Bellotto and his followers were fond of juxtaposing imaginary elements, such as Gothic ruins, the remains of ancient temples, tombs, and monuments in paintings. They deliberately exaggerated and distorted the architectural elements to add drama to the stage-like quality of the composition. This imaginary and capricious inventiveness lends its name to these types of paintings, capricci.
Many buildings in the painting are clearly identifiable. The central building is the Porta Portello (now the Porta Venezia). The domed church is the Santa Guistina, and the tall spire belongs to the Chiesa della Misericordia. The long-roofed structure along the left skyline is the Palazzo della Ragione.
This painting is a replica of one of Canaletto's most popular capricci, of which thirty-three are known to exist. Some were replicated by Canaletto himself, others by his studio, and still others by Bellotto and his circle.
