At the beginning of his career Canaletto (1697–1768) painted views of Venice that were singled out by the most discerning connoisseurs, and at its peak in the 1730s and 1740s he was by far the most successful Italian painter of his day. His work has never gone out of fashion, and he is now among the most popular of all Old Master painters. Because so much of Canaletto's oeuvre provides effortless enjoyment to the viewer, he is sometimes regarded as concerned only with the visible world, as opposed to those artists who were inspired by their religion or their imagination. However, Canaletto brought as reflective and original an insight to his early work as any of his contemporaries, and throughout his career he took relief from his normal realism in flights of fantasy and caprice. Even in his apparently most realistic pictures of Venice, Padua, and London, artistic considerations always took precedence over fact. This book accompanies the first exhibition of the work of Canaletto ever held in the United States. It follows the course of his career as painter and draftsman and reviews the different phases of his technical and artistic development. Canaletto's achievement cannot be seen as a whole without assembling a number of paintings and drawings still owned by the descendants of those who acquired them in his lifetime. Supreme among such collections is that of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II who owns the works sold to George III by Canaletto's principal patron, Consul Joseph Smith; a large number of these paintings and drawings are illustrated. Among public collections, the National Gallery, London, agreed to the inclusion of Canaletto's greatest masterpiece: "The Stonemason's Yard." Essays outlining Canaletto's life and illuminating his work are by J. G. Links, authority and author on Canaletto, who revised W. G. Constable's catalogue raisonné for its second and now its third editions; Michael Levey, former Director of the National Gallery, London: Francis Haskell, Professor of the History of Art at the University of Oxford; Alessandro Bettagno, professor, and Director of the Institute for the History of Art at the Cini Foundation, Venice; and Viola Pemberton-Pigott, Senior Restorer to the Royal Collection. The paintings and drawings are discussed by Katharine Baetjer, Curator in the Department of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and J. G. Links.

The city’s architecture, which is inflected by its geographic position and by the particular conditions of a maritime environment, and the wealth and richness of its painting, sculpture, and decoration attracted ever larger numbers of visitors.

This handsome volume presents selections from one of America's preeminent private collections of Old Master drawings, assembled over the last quarter century by David M. and Julie Tobey. Dating from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, seventy-two drawings—several previously unpublished—are featured. The diverse array of holdings consists principally of works by Italian masters but also by artists whose careers brought them south of the Alps, among them such brilliant draftsmen as Correggio, Giulio Romano, Parmigianino, Salvator Rosa, Poussin, Bernini, Canaletto, Tiepolo, and their contemporaries. Impressive in their variety, the drawings include figure and composition studies, landscapes, portraits, botanical drawings, motifs inspired by classical antiquity, and designs for painted compositions. Among the highlights are a splendid study of the head of Julius Caesar by Andrea del Sarto, a lively sheet of sketches by Perino del Vaga, a stunningly naturalistic study of a nude boy by Ludovico Carracci, a poetic Guercino landscape, charming topographical views by Luca Carlegarijs, Canaletto, and Bernardo Bellotto, a rare composition drawing by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, and a richly painted allegory by Giovanni David, to name just a few of the superlative examples in this carefully formed collection. The catalogue includes lengthy entries on each drawing and illuminating biographies of the artists. Every drawing in the Tobey Collection is reproduced in color and accompanied by numerous comparative illustrations. The contributors are Linda Wolk-Simon, Curator; George R. Goldner, Drue Heinz Chairman; Carmen C. Bambach and Perrin Stein, Curators; and Stijn Alsteens, Associate Curator, all of the Department of Drawings and Prints, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Mary Vaccaro, Professor of Art History at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Curator Andrea Bayer surveys a selection of The Met's Venetian paintings ahead of a series of talks she will give in February, Celebrating La Serenissima.