Where can you see Canaletto in London?

At the National Gallery: The Stonemason's Yard and London: Interior of the Rotunda at Ranelagh. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

What is Canaletto's most famous work in London?

The Stonemason's Yard, of about 1725, at the National Gallery. Not a postcard view but a back corner of Venice in the morning: masons chipping at blocks, a child fallen over, washing on a line, and a church across the canal. Painted before he learned what tourists wanted.

When and where was Canaletto born?

On 18 October 1697, at Venice. Canaletto died on 19 April 1768, at Venice, aged about 71.

What is Canaletto known for?

Lived in London from 1746 to 1755. The Royal Collection holds the largest group of his works. Began as a painter of stage sets. Canaletto was an Italian painter, of Venetian view painting.

Painter, 1697 to 1768

Canaletto

No painter is more tied to one city than Canaletto is to Venice, and no country bought more of him than England. When war stopped the tourists coming, he followed his customers home.

Born: 1697, Venice
Died: 1768, Venice
Movement: Venetian view painting
In London: 2 works in 1 museum

Where to see Canaletto in London

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

The National Gallery2 works

The Stonemason's Yard
about 1725
Not a postcard view but a back corner of Venice in the morning: masons chipping at blocks, a child fallen over, washing on a line, and a church across the canal. Painted before he learned what tourists wanted.
London: Interior of the Rotunda at Ranelagh
1754
The great round hall of a pleasure garden in Chelsea, with an orchestra playing and London society walking round and round. Mozart performed in it as a child ten years later.

The life of Canaletto

Giovanni Antonio Canal began as a painter of theatre scenery with his father. By the 1730s he was selling views of the Grand Canal to young Englishmen on the Grand Tour as fast as he could paint them, through the British consul, whose collection George III later bought.

He lived in London from 1746 to 1755, in Soho, and painted Westminster Bridge, the Thames and the houses of his patrons.

What to know

Lived in London from 1746 to 1755
The Royal Collection holds the largest group of his works
Began as a painter of stage sets

Born: 18 October 1697, Venice
Died: 19 April 1768, Venice

Canaletto: common questions

Where can you see Canaletto in London?: At the National Gallery: The Stonemason's Yard and London: Interior of the Rotunda at Ranelagh. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Canaletto's most famous work in London?: The Stonemason's Yard, of about 1725, at the National Gallery. Not a postcard view but a back corner of Venice in the morning: masons chipping at blocks, a child fallen over, washing on a line, and a church across the canal. Painted before he learned what tourists wanted.
When and where was Canaletto born?: On 18 October 1697, at Venice. Canaletto died on 19 April 1768, at Venice, aged about 71.
What is Canaletto known for?: Lived in London from 1746 to 1755. The Royal Collection holds the largest group of his works. Began as a painter of stage sets. Canaletto was an Italian painter, of Venetian view painting.