Canaletto & Venezia: A Fresh Look at 18th-Century Venetian Art at Palazzo Ducale

The exhibition 'Canaletto & Venezia' at Palazzo Ducale in Venice presents an optimistic view of the 18th century, a period often seen as the decline of the Serenissima Republic, which fell in 1797. The show highlights not only Canaletto, with 25 works including some never before seen in the lagoon, but also other masters of the Venetian school. It covers painting, vedutismo (originating from Luca Carlevarijs's engravings), portraiture, decorative arts, and sculpture. The first room focuses on young Canaletto and Giambattista Tiepolo, whose art looked to Europe and its courts while rooted in Venice's light and color. Other featured artists include Sebastiano Ricci, Rosalba Carriera, Giambattista Piazzetta, and Pietro Longhi. The exhibition progresses through decades, showcasing Venetian ceramics and Giambattista Piranesi's engravings, and concludes with Francesco Guardi's atmospheric paintings and Antonio Canova's bozzetto for the funerary monument to Francesco Pesaro, marking the end of an era and the opening to new horizons.