A drawing of the Piazzetta in Venice. The drawing is framed by the column of San Marco on the left, and the south east corner of the Libreria on the right. In the distance, across the canal is the Dogana and church of Santa Maria della Salute.

To see the column of the lion at roughly the same level as the Libreria, as here, one must stand close to the corner of the Palazzo Ducale, from where Santa Maria della Salute is almost hidden from view in the distance. Walking closer to the Libreria, the Salute comes into view, but the column of the lion then towers over the spectator. Canaletto thus opened out the space between the column of the lion and the Libreria, and inserted a rapid sketch of the Salute and the (abbreviated) Dogana, entirely omitting the column of San Teodoro. In the painting from the drawing he reverses the situation, including San Teodoro (though shrunk against the façade of the Libreria) and - after first including it along the left edge of the canvas - painting out the column of the lion, leaving a heavy mass to the right which is barely balanced by the sail and mast of a boat moored at the Molo.

The drawing is substantially less dark and contrasty than the other three in this small group (RL 7443-6), and the fading of the ink towards the edge of the sheet gives the appearance of a vignette. Again, the figures that are prominent in the painting are barely indicated here, little more than a single scribble hunched at the base of the column.

The drawing relates to an oil painting in the Royal Collection (RCIN 405073).

Catalogue entry adapted from Canaletto in Venice, London, 2005