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The Terrace
Historical Context
This Terrace scene by a follower of Canaletto reproduces the architectural veduta style that made Giovanni Antonio Canal the most famous view painter of 18th-century Venice. Copies and variations of Canaletto's compositions were produced in large numbers to satisfy the insatiable demand from Grand Tour travelers for Venetian souvenirs. The terrace view, showing architectural elements framing a Venetian landscape, was a popular format.
Technical Analysis
The oil-on-canvas follows Canaletto's approach to architectural rendering with careful linear perspective and warm, atmospheric light. The somewhat less precise handling compared to Canaletto's autograph works is characteristic of the many followers who worked in his manner.
Provenance
Probably Sir Charles Turner, London, by 1908; his sale, Rudolph Lepke, Berlin, November 17, 1908, no. 4, as Bernardo Belotto. Possibly A. S. Drey, Munich [according to Constable and Links 1976]. Antonio Dal Zotto (died 1918), Venice [according to Paris 1928 when the picture and its pendant, 1957.48, were lent by Federico Gentili di Giuseppe]. Federico Gentili di Giuseppe, Paris, (died 1940), by 1917 [see Oulmont 1917]; by descent to his daughter Adriana Salem, Paris and Cambridge, Massachusetts, by 1952 [according to Kleinberger stock card in European Painting Department, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the painting was on loan to the Fogg Museum of Art from 1952–54]; by descent to her son, Daniel Salem, Paris [according to stock card referenced above]; sold to F. Kleinberger & Co., New York, 1956 [according to stock card referenced above and a letter from Harry G. Sperling to Daniel Catton Rich dated November 1, 1956 in curatorial file]; purchased by the Art Institute from F. Kleinberger & Co. with funds provided by Mrs. Clive Runnells (died 1977), who maintained a partial life interest in the picture.
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