Canaletto - The Venetian Painter Is Back In Rome

If you are in Rome before the 19th of August, you can also make a “ grand tour”, as it was called in the 18th century , in Venice (and even in London!) without leaving Rome, thanks to a magnificent exhibition that opened a few days ago in the Museo di Roma,  Palazzo Braschi (with a view on the beautiful piazza Navona) : “Canaletto 1697-1768”, commemorating  the 250th anniversary of the artist’s death.

With 42 paintings, 9 drawings and 16 books and documents, it is the largest exhibition ever held in Italy of Giovanni Antonio Canal, better known as Canaletto, and especially beloved by the curious British travellers of his time.

Symbol of the 18th century, the venetian painter was a genius of the “vedutismo”, the painting of urban landscapes, at the same time realistic, with a lot of very precise details, and full of dreams and imaginations. Some of those “vedute”, when mostly invented by the painter, were called  “Capriccio”. Canaletto whose father was a theatrical scene painter, was particularly inspired by the roman ruins that are the subject of many of his  “capricci” painted when he was staying in Rome.

Nevertheless, his most beloved “model” was his native Venice, with his canals and palaces, the Ponte Rialto, the Piazza San Marco, the famous celebrations of the wedding of Venice with the sea on the boat Bucintoro etc…
But he painted also a lot of “vedute” of London and the Thames. And, thanks to this roman exhibition, it is possible, for the first time, to see a huge painting of Chelsea on the Tames that was cut in two pieces by Canaletto himself, probably to earn more money.
The left side, with the Chelsea College is exposed in Blicking Hall (National trust) in Norfolk and the right side, with the Ranelagh House, in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes” in La Habana, Cuba. Now they are together again, for the first time, in Rome.

The exhibited paintings and other peaces are from museums all around the world (National Gallery of London, Kunsthistorishes Museum of Vienna, Pushkin museum of Moscow, the Budapest Museum etc… ) and also from many private collections. But some of those are missing. For example, the Canaletto’s of a very special collectionist: the queen Elisabeth II. To see them you’ll have to go to Buckingham Palace!
 
The Museum of Rome, Palazzo Braschi is opened every day, except Mondays, from 10h to 19h.
Entrance: Piazza San Pantaleo, 2.