The Portico with the Lantern, from Vedute
1735/44
Medium
Etching in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 30 × 43.4 cm (11 13/16 × 17 1/8 in.); Plate: 30.4 × 43.6 cm (12 × 17 3/16 in.); Sheet: 43.3 × 58.1 cm (17 1/16 × 22 7/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
159741
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Employing a wide variety of tones and marks, Canaletto expertly depicted this imagined scene with its smattering of actual ancient ruins. A follower of the artist later copied this important etching to produce the nearly identical painting on the right. The painted version, however, omitted or reinterpreted most of the foreground figures. A new scene of a man standing next to an architectural fragment near the building to the right has also been added, emphasizing the visitor’s interest in the a...
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.