Pamono Giovanni Antonio Canal (Canaletto), Al Dolo, Etching, 1735/44> Old Masters

Al Dolo is an original Artwork realized by Giovanni Antonio Canal, commonly known as Canaletto (Venice, 1697 – 1768). Original Etching on Laid paper, 1735-1744. The work is from the series ” VEDUTE. Altre prese da i Luoghi altre ideate da ANTONIO CANAL e da esso intagliate […]”. II state of four (according to Montecuccoli), II state of three (according to Bromberg), I state of two (according to De Vesme). Ref. and Prov.: P. Prouté, Catalogue Papety, 1982, n.148 Exceptional sheet, with fresh impression and beards. On the left bank of the Brenta, facing the church of Dolo dedicated to S.Rocco, stands the Palladian villa Zanon-Bon, formerly called Andruzzi. Nearby, two squeri (boat-sheds) partially hidden by trees. Beside them the waterway which joins the locks at Dolo with the Brenta is indicated by the wharf with logs and the corner house with escutcheon and low stone wall. Across the background, three accumoli (water-mills). Beyond them, buildings and a tower. On the river bed in the foreground, two men are occupied with a tub and bucket. A row of briccole (mooring posts) defines the navigable zone of the river. Dimensions: mm 294 x 429. Inscriptions: on the lower left corner “ A. Canal f. ”, on the center “ Al Dolo ”. Reference : A.De Vesme, Le peintre-graveur italien , Milan, 1906, n. 4. D. Succi (a cura di), Canaletto & Visentini. Venezia e Londra, Cittadella/Venezia, Bertoncello/Tedeschi, 1986, n. 70. R. Bromberg, Canaletto’s etchings, revised and enlarged edition of the catalogue raisonné , San Francisco, Alan Wofsy, 1993, n. 4. F. Montecuccoli Degli Erri, Canaletto Incisore , Venezia, Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, 2002, pp. 232-233, n. 4. In the title of the series to which this etching belongs, the artist distinguishes between places taken from life and others created: the is never accurate but lives on a free and extraordinarily personal interpretation of the objective data. Canaletto’s gaze is a modern gaze, which interprets reality by restoring a serene world, made up of thousand details, genre scenes and modulated by light. Originally the series was to consist of thirty etchings, but the artist divided three of the plates into several parts, increasing the number to 35. At the time of the edition, however, only 31 were chosen, published both in volume and individually; it is not possible to reconstruct the sequence, but probably the smaller plates were engraved first and then the larger ones, such as Al Dolo. Giovanni Antonio Canal (Venice, 1697 – 1768),commonly known as Canaletto , was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or vedute, of Venice, Rome, and London, he also painted imaginary views (referred to as capricci), although the demarcation in his works between the real and the imaginary is never quite clearcut. He was further an important printmaker using the etching technique. In the period from 1746 to 1756 he worked in England where he painted many views of London and other sites including Warwick Castle and Alnwick Castle. He was highly successful in England, thanks to the British merchant and connoisseur Joseph “Consul” Smith, whose large collection of Canaletto’s works was sold to King George III in 1762.