View of City of London taken through one of the Centres of the Arches of the New Bridge at Westminster

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand

Giovanni Antonio Canal (Canaletto) was born in Venice, the son of a scenery painter. He probably trained under his father and assisted his father in Venice and later Rome, before returning to Venice to join the Venetian painter’s guild. His early works were mainly ‘capricci’, sold locally. During the 1720s he began painting Venetian views and met his foremost patron; Englishman Joseph Smith. Smith lived on the Grand Canal and built up the most important collection of Canaletto’s work. It was sold to George III in 1762 and remains in the Royal Collection. Canaletto moved to London in 1746, living in Soho for ten years. In 1763, after returning to Venice, he was elected to the Venetian Academy and appointed head of the Collegio dei Pittori.

Places

England, London

Subjects

rowing boat, topography, genre, townscape/cityscape, river bank, river, man, woman, bucket, coat of arms, bridge (urban), house, church, cathedral, spire, sailboat

Materials & Techniques

engraving, coloured engraving

Artist

Canaletto (1697 - 1768)
Samuel Wale (1721 - 1786)
Remi Parr (1723 - )

Title

View of City of London taken through one of the Centres of the Arches of the New Bridge at Westminster

Date

1747

Medium

Coloured engraving

Acquisition

Purchased from Parker Gallery, September 1961

GAC number

5598