Vedute altre prese da i luoghi altre ideate
Original title: Vedute altre prese da i luoghi altre ideate
kurzbeschreibung
With the series 'Vedute altre prese da i luoghi altre ideate', Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) issued an etching in the 18th century that brings together a city view with buildings, a church and staffage figures. The sheet belongs to a set of capricci in which the artist combines real locations with freely invented motifs.
Description
Buildings stand in the foreground, one of them bearing a sign with the year MDCCLXII (1762); on a balcony a figure can be seen in what appears to be a working pose. Behind rises a church with a striking dome. A street runs into the depth and teems with figures. The upright format directs the eye both along the street's vanishing line and toward the dome.
Context
This etching belongs to Canaletto's later years, when he turned more strongly to printmaking. It comes from a series published in Venice in 1744, while the sign in the image gives the year 1762. The title itself names that union of actual views and imagined elements which is characteristic of 18th-century veduta art.
Impact
The print's grey tones convey a quiet, atmospheric mood. Graded shading creates a considerable sense of space and draws the viewer into the picture. Because real and invented architecture meet, the sheet acquires a poetic, almost transfigured quality.
Technique
The work is executed as an etching, as can be seen from the linear stroke and the grey values. Canaletto used etching to obtain delicate lines and hatching. The printing ink lies evenly on the paper, a sign of a carefully conducted printing process.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)