"Grand Canal" oil painting

The gothic church of Santa Maria della Carità, which is the main feature of this composition, is now the Galleria dell'Accademia. This is an early copy by one of the many vedutisti working in, and depicting, Venice. 'Veduta' is the Italian term for 'view', and is commonly used to refer to detailed paintings of bustling city scenes or figured landscapes. The artists who painted these scenes are referred to as 'vedutisti'. Copies of Canaletto's celebrated Venetian scenes were sold to tourists in large numbers. The anatomist Dr. William Hunter purchased this canvas from Sir Robert Strange, many of whose paintings had been acquired in Italy, therefore this work is almost certainly by a local follower rather than one of Canaletto's English imitators.

This object from the collection of the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery was selected by Shan MacDonald who created the Hunterian Art Gallery's Relic Challenge.