Harvard Art Museums > FA13: Imaginary View of Venice Prints Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Imaginary View of Venice (Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto) , FA13,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, May 04, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/299930. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number FA13 People Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto, Italian (Venice, Italy 1697 - 1768 Venice, Italy) Title Imaginary View of Venice Other Titles Alternate Title: House with Date 1741, and House with Portico Classification Prints Work Type print Date 1741 Places Creation Place: Europe, Italy, Veneto, Venice Culture Italian Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/299930 Physical Descriptions Technique Etching Dimensions plate: 29.7 × 43.3 cm (11 11/16 × 17 1/16 in.) Inscriptions and Marks inscription: verso, bottom left, graphite: N. Coll. Oct. 1874 inscription: etched in gable of building at the far left: MDCCXLI.A.C. inscription: verso, graphite: N. Coll. Oct. 1874 collector's mark: verso, blue stamp, only partially legible: ------------ / DEPT------------- / HARVARD UNIV----- [within a rectangular border line, evidently an alter nate to the Fine Arts Department stamp also found on this print] collector's mark: verso, blue stamp with accession number written below in graphite: FINE ARTS / DEPARTMENT OF / HARVARD COLLEGE [within a rectangular borderline] 13 Provenance Recorded Ownership History Charles Eliot Norton. verso inscribed: N. Coll. Oct. 1874; does not have the usual Fine Arts Department stamp State, Edition, Standard Reference Number State i/iii Standard Reference Number DeVesme 12, 13; Bromberg 12 Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Transfer from the Fine Arts Department, Harvard University Object Number FA13 Division European and American Art Contact am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Commentary Rare Prints, 29 Oct. 1994: Canaletto’s working method, as seen in the rare trial proofs that survive of his etched views, was to execute the entire composition in complete detail, usually in a single bite. He would then rework the plate, adding depth to shadows and burnishing down lines that he wished to appear lighter, so that the composition, which in the single-bite stage lay as a flat screen on the paper, would through its tonal enrichment flex into a three-dimensional space. In the case of this composition, perhaps despairing of his capacity to establish deep space where the vista was broken in the mid-ground by a prominent structure (the so-called House with a Portico), Canaletto cut the plate in half and reworked each side separately. While the first, uncut state survives in only six impressions, impressions of The House with a Portico and The House with the Date are relatively common and are frequently found printed together on the same sheet, as we see here, with the division of the plate minimized as much as possible. Publication History Masterpieces of world art : Fogg Art Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 1997 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
