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Identification and Creation

Object Number
FA13
People
Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto, Italian (Venice, Italy 1697 - 1768 Venice, Italy)
Title
Imaginary View of Venice
Other Titles
Alternate Title: House with Date 1741, and House with Portico
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1741
Places
Creation Place: Europe, Italy, Veneto, Venice
Culture
Italian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/299930

Location

Location
Level 3, Room 3620, University Study Gallery
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Etching on white antique laid paper
Technique
Etching
Dimensions
plate: 29.7 × 43.3 cm (11 11/16 × 17 1/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: verso, bottom left, graphite: N. Coll. Oct. 1874
  • inscription: etched in gable of building at the far left: MDCCXLI.A.C.
  • inscription: verso, graphite: N. Coll. Oct. 1874
  • collector's mark: verso, blue stamp, only partially legible: ------------ / DEPT------------- / HARVARD UNIV----- [within a rectangular border line, evidently an alter nate to the Fine Arts Department stamp also found on this print]
  • collector's mark: verso, blue stamp with accession number written below in graphite:
    FINE ARTS / DEPARTMENT OF / HARVARD COLLEGE [within a rectangular borderline] 13

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Charles Eliot Norton. verso inscribed: N. Coll. Oct. 1874; does not have the usual Fine Arts Department stamp

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

State
i/iii
Standard Reference Number
DeVesme 12, 13; Bromberg 12

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Transfer from the Fine Arts Department, Harvard University
Object Number
FA13
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Commentary
Rare Prints, 29 Oct. 1994: Canaletto’s working method, as seen in the rare trial proofs that survive of his etched views, was to execute the entire composition in complete detail, usually in a single bite. He would then rework the plate, adding depth to shadows and burnishing down lines that he wished to appear lighter, so that the composition, which in the single-bite stage lay as a flat screen on the paper, would through its tonal enrichment flex into a three-dimensional space. In the case of this composition, perhaps despairing of his capacity to establish deep space where the vista was broken in the mid-ground by a prominent structure (the so-called House with a Portico), Canaletto cut the plate in half and reworked each side separately. While the first, uncut state survives in only six impressions, impressions of The House with a Portico and The House with the Date are relatively common and are frequently found printed together on the same sheet, as we see here, with the division of the plate minimized as much as possible.

Publication History

  • Masterpieces of world art : Fogg Art Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 1997

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/31/2024 - 01/05/2025

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu