Canaletto “Venice Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge view from South”

Oil on canvas (68.5 x 92cm) 1733-35 Galleria Nazionale Barberini Rome

Canaletto Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge Again a painting of the “Great Venice”: Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge, gondolas and palaces, everything is there, perfect Venetian decor!

It was difficult to know where Canaletto could paint this view of Venice unless it was positioned on the upper part of a large sailboat type boat, which was perfectly possible since there was no bridge between this place and the St. Mark's Basin.

So a large boat could have been anchored here, and Canaletto would have taken advantage of it to get this original framing.

To the right of the painting, after the Manin Bridge, which at the time of Canaletto had only one parapet and was still called the Dolfin Bridge, we see the Manin Dolfin Palace.

Also on the right, you can see the top of the bell tower of the Church of San Salvador followed, behind the Rialto Bridge, the Fontego dei Tedeschi, which, at the time, was surmounted by beautiful and large fireplaces as well as two small buildings positioned at each corner of the roof, which has now disappeared.

Canaletto Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge On the left, still behind the Rialto Bridge, you can see a part of the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi, which remained identical.

Still on the left if the houses of the Riva del Vin remained very close to those painted by Canaletto; however, we notice the presence of shops throughout the part preceding the Rialto Bridge, shops now replaced by restaurants.

The water of the Grand Canal is particularly transparent and bright, without the slightest wave, a true mirror impossible to see today except at night!

The Rialto Bridge itself is beautifully painted; it is truly embossed in the front of us.

The daily life of the Venetians is perfectly staged, from gondoliers and boatmen on the water to traders and passers-by on the docks.

Canaletto Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge