Venice: The Riva degli Schiavoni

Venice: The Riva degli Schiavoni, painted around 1740 and now in the Wallace Collection, depicts the long eastern waterfront promenade extending from the Doge's Palace toward the Arsenal. The Riva was Venice's busiest promenade and one of its most frequently painted subjects. Canaletto captures the full length of the quay with characteristic precision, the Gothic and Renaissance palaces along the waterfront creating a rhythmic architectural procession. The Wallace Collection's holding of Canaletto vedute forms one of the most comprehensive surveys of his work outside the Royal Collection, assembled by the Marquess of Hertford with the same discerning taste that made his collection one of the finest private assemblages of European art.

The long horizontal format suits the extended waterfront vista, with the line of buildings creating a continuous architectural panorama. Figures populate the Riva in groups that suggest the varied social life of this public space — merchants, gondoliers, nobles, and tourists.