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1 of 253523 objects
Venice: The Molo looking west 1729
Pen and ink, over free and ruled pencil | 19.6 x 30.5 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 907460
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A drawing of a view of the Molo and surrounding area in Venice. From right to left the following features can be seen: the column of San Teodoro, the Libreria, the Zecca, the Ponte della Pescaria, the Granai di Terranova, the Fontegheto della Farina, and finally the start of the Grand Canal.
The view is from roughly the same point as the other view of the Molo (RL 7542), and is essentially identical in size and style, but looking in the opposite direction. Here too Canaletto enlarged the column, this time that of San Teodoro, relative to buildings beyond - the Libreria, followed by the Zecca (the mint of Venice), then the broad staircase of the Ponte della Pescaria, the site of a fishmarket whose awnings Canaletto indicated with a series of horizontal scribbles. Then comes the Granai di Terranova, a huge brick building erected in the fourteenth century as the state granaries, demolished during the Napoleonic occupation and replaced by gardens to give a view from the end of Napoleon’s intended palace. Next are the buildings of the Fontegheto della Farina, and finally the mouth of the Grand Canal, including the tower of Palazzo Venier delle Torreselle.
Canaletto painted variants of this view several times, usually as pendants to the views east along the Molo. All the paintings extend the view to the left to include Santa Maria della Salute, and that church appears in a rapid sketch in Philadelphia that seems to be preliminary to the present drawing, though with a lower viewpoint and the buildings on the right in more dramatic perspective. The Philadelphia sketch is virtually identical in size and style to a sketch of the Piazzetta dated 1729 by the artist (private collection), and it is very likely that the same applies to the present drawing
Inscribed in pencil on the verso: Smith
Catalogue entry adapted from Canaletto in Venice, London, 2005Provenance
Purchased by George III from Consul Joseph Smith, 1762
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Medium and techniques
Pen and ink, over free and ruled pencil
Measurements
19.6 x 30.5 cm (sheet of paper)
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
RL 7460