Canaletto: An imaginary Venice

Canaletto did not paint Venice - he invented it. And it is perhaps this imaginary Venice which gelled in the reveries of future visitors. Because the images of Venice which Canaletto created showed a static city, untouched by decadence or deterioration. He often sublimated the city, extending it to fantastic but no less real dimensions, because his visions went beyond naturalism and the virtuosity of reproduction of reality.