# Piazza San Marco

**Canaletto** (Italian, 1697–1768)  
late 1720s  
Oil on canvas  
27 x 44 1/4 in. (68.6 x 112.4 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988.162. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435839).

## About this work

Canaletto painted this in the late 1720s, aged about 30. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Canaletto](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/canaletto)

Italian, 1697–1768; born in Venice; died in Venice

Canaletto, the son of a Venetian painter of theatre scenery, turned in the 1720s to painting views of his native city and became its leading vedutista. British travellers on the Grand Tour were his most eager patrons, many through the merchant and consul Joseph Smith. When war cut off that trade he went to England, working there from 1746 to the mid-1750s on views of London and country houses such as Warwick Castle. He also made a set of etchings that includes imaginary views.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Paintings
- The artist was about 30
- Real size: about 27 × 44 in (69 × 112 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 18 × 24 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 18th century
- Subjects: Towers, Cities, Venice
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1068.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1068/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/piazza-san-marco-met-435839).