Canaletto

Canaletto, or CANALÉ, the name of two Venetian painters, celebrated for their landscapes and views of towns. The elder, ANTONIO, was born in 1697, and studied at Rome. He painted a series of views in Venice, among which those of the Grand Canal are especially admirable for their fresh colouring, faithfulness, and the invention displayed in accessory objects. He paid two visits to England, but died in his native city, 20th August 1768.—His nephew, BERNARDO BELLOTTO, surnamed CANALETTO, was born in 1720, and attained high excellence as a painter, and also as an engraver on copper. He practised his art in his native place, and afterwards in Rome, Verona, Brescia, Milan, and Dresden. Correct perspective, powerful effects of light and shade, and beautiful sky-tints, are the most prominent characteristics of his works. Canaletto visited England, where, among several other excellent works, he painted a masterly interior of King's College Chapel, Cambridge. He died in Warsaw, 17th October 1780. See R. Meyer, Die beiden Canaletti (Dresden, 1878).