View of the Grand Canal from Palazzo Balbi to Rialto

Dorsoduro

View of the Grand Canal from Palazzo Balbi to Rialto
This work is one of Canaletto’s early masterpieces and marks the painter’s abandonment of theatre scenic design to fully devote himself to the painting of landscapes. In the solid perspective structure, it is still possible to identify the heritage of scenic design techniques: a sharp chiaroscuro and some "special-effect cuts". It is placed in the Ca' Rezzonico Museum of Venice; the View of Venice: Rio dei Mendicanti, a coeval equally important work, hangs on the same wall.