Canaletto (1697-1768) (Giovanni Antonio Canal)

Born in Venice, Canaletto was a painter, etcher, and draughtsman whose fame rests on his painted views of Venice. Earliest sources of Canaletto report him working with his uncle on stage sets for operas by Antonio Vivaldi. Having, in his own words, solemnly excommunicated himself from the theatre, it appears that Canaletto next tried his hand at fantasy views and landscape.

Canaletto's most productive period was during the 1730s when his views of Venice were highly sort after by English nobility on the Grand Tour (the Grand Tour was a journey taken by well educated, high-born males from Northern Europe to complete their education).