The Reception of the French Ambassador in Venice Antonio Canale (Canaletto) Full size image
		The Rialto Bridge in Venice Michele Giovanni Marieschi Full size image

previous room

next room

This cabinet is devoted to the Italian landscape. Here one can see Venetian vedute (townscapes) and the works of artists from central Italy. The canvases of celebrated artists recreate the appearance of 18th-century Venice, when the city was, in the words of P.P. Muratov, "the second capital of Europe and shared equally with Paris all the famous figures of the stage, art and love, all the noble travellers, all the unusual people, all the adventurers, all the fine connoisseurs of life and all its inventors". The panorama by Antonio Canale (Canaletto) entitled The Reception of the French Ambassador in Venice depicts a grand ceremony taking place on the embankment near the Palace of the Doges. Contemporaries described Canaletto's paintings as "radiant, joyful, clear and delightfully meticulous". Alongside Canaletto's pictures devoted to festivities and carnivals, there are the more intimate and lyrical views of Venice created by Michele Marieschi, featuring his favourite motif - the Grand Canal.