The Clock Tower in the Piazza San Marco, 1728/1730. Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto. Oil on canvas. Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust.
Canaletto, the son of a theatrical scene painter, was the greatest topographical painter of the 18th century. The precision and clarity of his paintings of the grand architectural vistas and canals of Venice appealed greatly to British tourists on the European Grand Tour. Venice was a mandatory stop on the Tour, and wealthy visitors bought Canaletto's paintings as souvenirs. Although he was known to have used a camera obscura as an aid in preparatory studies, he modified topographical accuracy for the sake of satisfying compositions. Here, Canaletto has compressed the actual view in depth, because in reality the façade of Saint Mark's is located further back, nearer to the Clock Tower.
