Canaletto

Canaletto (1697-1768) was an Italian painter and printmaker from Venice, celebrated as an important member of the eighteenth-century Venetian school. He specialized in vedute, detailed topographical view paintings of Venice, Rome and London prized for their accuracy and their handling of light and atmosphere, and he also produced imaginative architectural fantasies known as capricci. He spent roughly a decade working in England, from 1746 to 1756, where his patron Joseph Smith helped him find success painting views of Westminster Bridge and English country estates. He was also an accomplished etcher.