The Grand Canal from San Vio, Venice

Canaletto painted this stretch of the Grand Canal around 1723, when he was in his mid-twenties and just turning from theatrical scene-painting to the city views that would make his name. Venice by then lived largely on its visitors, the Carnival crowds and the young Englishmen on their Grand Tour who wanted a painted souvenir of exactly this kind. The view looks toward San Marco, with the palazzo Barbarigo close on the right and the line of façades running down to the domed church of the Salute and the customs point at the water's edge. Canaletto sets the greenish water against a wide blue sky. The boats crossing the foreground are placed to pull your eye down the canal.