Largest-ever display of Canaletto paintings in Scotland goes on show at The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse

14 mai 2018

Largest-ever display of Canaletto paintings in Scotland goes on show at The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse

Canaletto & the Art of Venice. 11 May - 21 October 2018 at The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse.

EDINBURGH.- A new exhibition at The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse includes the largest group of Canaletto paintings ever shown in Scotland. Canaletto & the Art of Venice explores the work of Italy's most famous view-painter, and how he and his contemporaries captured the essence and allure of 18th-century Venice. The Royal Collection contains one of the world's greatest holdings of Canaletto's paintings and drawings thanks to George III, who purchased the collection of Consul Smith, patron and dealer to the artist, for £20,000 in 1762.

Among the highlights of the exhibition are Canaletto's most famous views of the Grand Canal. These 12 vivid and precise paintings, executed over several years in the late 1720s, depict a near-complete journey down the waterway. From the quayside palaces and workshops on the Grand Canal’s upper reaches to the bustling festivities around St Mark’s Square, the artist brilliantly captures the effects of light on stone and water, and fills each work with a snapshot of Venetian daily life.

Canaletto, The Canale di Santa Chiara looking north towards the Lagoon, c. 1722-3. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto frequently returned to the subject of the Grand Canal, and recent analysis of six pen-and-ink drawings has revealed his working methods. A special camera was used by Royal Collection Trust conservators to pass infrared rays through the surface of the drawings. Ink is transparent to infrared wavelengths, and the camera only detected the carbon in the pencil underdrawing. Research on the drawing The central stretch of the Grand Canal, c.1734 revealed how Canaletto meticulously set out the details of buildings, plotting in chimneys, façades and windows. Using a ruler, he extended the lines of the architecture into the water to illustrate reflections of the buildings.

The results of the analysis cast doubt on the long-held view that Canaletto used a 'camera obscura' to achieve topographical accuracy in his work. A precursor of the modern camera, this device allowed artists to trace an inverted image of a view, formed by rays of light passing through a small hole in a box. The infrared photography suggests that, rather than tracing the outlines of the buildings in the open air, for these drawings Canaletto plotted the scene with a pencil and ruler in his studio.

Canaletto, Piazza San Marco looking East towards the Basilica and the Campanile, c.1723-4. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Recently conserved and on display for the first time are a pair of paintings by Francesco Zuccarelli, an Italian artist whose work was hugely popular in Britain. From around 1730 Zuccarelli devoted himself exclusively to landscapes, such as Landscape with Diana Appearing to Endymion, c.1740–45, and River Landscape with Apollo Pursuing Daphne, c.1740–45, which shows the mythological story from Ovid's Metamorposes. The oil-on-panel paintings demonstrate the artist's ability to create mythological worlds on a small scale. The paint strokes suggest they were painted quickly, over skies already laid on the panel.

Through over 100 paintings, drawings and prints drawn entirely from the Royal Collection, Canaletto & the Art of Venice explores how artists captured the spirit of this thriving city, from its burgeoning theatre and opera scene to the grand public entertainments and religious spectacles.

Canaletto, The Grand Canal looking south-west from the Rialto to Ca’ Foscari, c.1724-25. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, The Rialto Bridge from the North, c.1726-27. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: the Grand Canal Looking North from the Rialto, c.1726-27. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, The Grand Canal looking south from Ca’ Foscari to the Carità, c.1726-27. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Grand Canal with the Scalzi and S. Simeone Piccolo, c.1726-27. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: S. Geremia and the Entrance to the Cannaregio, c.1726-27. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Grand Canal from the Carità towards the Bacino, c.1727-28. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Grand Canal looking East from Campo San Vio towards the Bacino, c.1727–8. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Grand Canal from the Palazzo Vendramin-Calergi towards S. Geremia, c.1727-28. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, The Mouth of the Grand Canal looking West towards the Carità, c.1729–30. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: the Grand Canal with S. Maria della Salute towards the Riva degli Schiavoni, c.1729–30. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Bacino di S. Marco on Ascension Day, c.1733–4. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: A Regatta on the Grand Canal, c.1733–4. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: San Marco and the Piazza, looking east, c.1723-4. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Piazza, looking west, c.1723-4. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Piazza, looking north, c.1723-4. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Piazza looking north-west with the narthex of San Marco, c.1723-4. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Piazzetta, looking towards Santa Maria della Salute, c.1723-4. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Piazzetta, looking towards San Giorgio Maggiore, c.1723-4. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Molo and Riva degli Schiavoni, looking east, 1729. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Molo, looking west, 1729. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Piazzetta looking south, 1729. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Bacino di San Marco on Ascension Day, 1729. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Bacino looking west from San Biagio, 1729. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Bacino looking west from San Biagio, c.1735-40. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Bacino looking west, c.1734. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Bacino looking west on Ascension Day, c.1734. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The central stretch of the Grand Canal, c.1734. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The Grand Canal, looking east from the Fondamenta delle Croce, c.1734. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The lower bend of the Grand Canal, looking north, c.1734. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The lower reach of the Grand Canal, c.1734. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The upper reach of the Grand Canal, looking south, c.1734. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Canaletto, Venice: The lower bend of the Grand Canal, looking north-west, c.1734. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018