Landscape with Tower and Two Ruined Pillars, from Vedute
1735/44
Medium
Etching in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 14.2 × 20.9 cm (5 5/8 × 8 1/4 in.); Plate: 14.6 × 21.2 cm (5 3/4 × 8 3/8 in.); Sheet: 43.1 × 58.7 cm (17 × 23 1/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
159752
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Curiously, Canaletto never printed either of these energetic capriccio landscapes (depictions of fantastic architecture or ruins) individually. Instead, they exist only as a pair on a single sheet (for the left half, see 1922.1381.13). While both images include fictional antiquarian architectural elements, it is not known why the artist combined them. Perhaps it was their mirrored compositions: when placed side by side, both images slope inward toward a church that straddles the margin between t...
About the Artist
Canaletto · 1697–1768
The most famous view-painter of the 18th century, Canaletto's works are characteristically topographically correct with smooth, precise handling. His patrons were primarily English collectors.