Canaletto played a large role in depicting Venetian lifestyles and cityscapes through his use of light, color, and detail in his eighteenth-century paintings and drawings. He was considered one of the first Venetian vedutisti, or view painters, and is most notably recognized for his creative interpretations of his native city, otherwise known as capricci. This study is a comparison of his images to the actual views in Venice, discussing the similarities and differences in content and style. Canaletto’s beautiful views of Venice played a critical role in the development of the new tradition of vedute, and his works came to be regarded as the supreme examples of a genre that combined reality with some elements of fantasy.
