Giovanni Antonio Canaletto was born in 1697 in Venice to Artemisia Barbieri and Bernardo Canal, a painter. He served his apprenticeship with his father and his brother after which he began theatrical scene painting which was his father’s occupation. Giovanni Antonio was inspired by Giovanni Paolo Pannini, the Roman vedutista, and started painting the daily life of the city and its people.
Giovanni returned to Rome in 1719 and begun painting in his famous topographical style. Studying with the older Luca Carlevaris, he rapidly became his master's equal. Giovanni’s first dated and signed work is Architectural Capriccio. Much of his early artworks were painted from nature and are always notable for their accuracy. They therefore differed from the then customary practice of completing paintings in the studio.
These early works remain his best and the most coveted. One of the finest being The Stonemason's Yard found in the National Gallery, London, depicting a humble working area of the city. His other outstanding works include the Doge’s Palace and the grand scenes of the canals of Venice. His large-scale landscapes portrayed waning traditions and the city’s famed pageantry. He made use of strong local colors and atmospheric effects, the qualities that made his works to have anticipated Impressionism.
Giovanni sold many of his pictures to Englishmen on their Grand Tour. He did this through the agency of the merchant Joseph Smith who sold much of his collections to George III. Many examples of Giovanni’s work are found in other British collections, including a set of 24 in the dining room at Woburn Abbey and several others at the Wallace Collection.
