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Venice: Capriccio of the Piazzetta with the Horses of San Marco
Canaletto·1743
Historical Context
This Royal Collection capriccio places the famous bronze horses of San Marco in the Piazzetta in a fantastical arrangement. The horses, originally from Constantinople, were Venice's most celebrated ancient trophy and a powerful symbol of the Republic's imperial heritage. Canaletto's Venetian views were largely produced for British Grand Tour aristocrats facilitated by his agent Joseph Smith, later British Consul in Venice. He employed a camera obscura to achieve precise architectural foreshor...
Technical Analysis
The bronze horses are rendered as sculptural objects within the invented architectural setting, their gleaming surfaces contrasting with the surrounding stone. Canaletto uses dramatic perspective to monumentalize the scene.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the famous bronze horses of San Marco placed in the Piazzetta in a fantastical arrangement — these ancient trophies from Constantinople were Venice's most celebrated symbols.
- ◆Look at the gleaming sculptural surfaces contrasting with surrounding stone as Canaletto uses dramatic perspective to monumentalize the scene.
- ◆Observe how the horses are rendered as sculptural objects, their ancient bronze forms carrying the weight of Venice's imperial heritage from the Fourth Crusade.
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