Canaletto: view paintings of Venice | National Gallery

Watch Associate Curator Francesca Whitlum-Cooper discuss Canaletto and his incredible view paintings of Venice, which were hugely in demand, particularly with British visitors on the Grand Tour. She focuses on Canaletto's painting 'The Stonemason's Yard', a mysterious and perhaps more unusual Venetian view from the artist.
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The National Gallery houses the national collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the 13th to the 19th centuries. The museum is free of charge and open 361 days per year, daily between 10.00 am - 6.00 pm and on Fridays between 10.00 am - 9.00 pm.
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[@tom_123]

To speak fluently without a hesitation or a filler word, for 30 minutes, and in front of an audience, is very impressive.

[@julianfrederick9082]

Less impressive when you do it all the time. Imagine praising a Shakespearean actor for the same feat.

[@jamesryan82]

@@julianfrederick9082 harsh

[@evangelist6277]

I agree and it is a sign of her intelligence and knowledge of the works, I just wish she would slow down a little not too much just a little

[@tom_123]

@@julianfrederick9082 Both are a performance. You can’t imagine praising a Shakespearean actor for their performance?

[@MMA-gb6to]

it's a talent, i can never do that

[@markstarmer3677]

It’s incredible the amount you learn from these relatively short talks about different artists from the speakers. Francesca’s passion and enthusiasm is infectious. Most enjoyable.

[@nationalgallery]

Thank you for watching and for your lovely comment!

[@josephkendall9793]

The presenter is fantastic. Such a pleasure to listen to her talk about this artist and his times

[@axlathi]

What a great talk! Wonderfully interesting and eloquently delivered! Thank you Francesca and National Gallery!

[@alwaysproust1374]

I absolutely adore these lunchtime talks. Please produce and post AS MANY as you possibly can, until there are no more works to profile. Pleaseeeeee! And thank you for all that you've already posted. Kind regards.

[@karsondonovan8183]

instablaster...

[@peterjohnson617]

I would love to walk through the gallery for an hour or two with this woman. I am sure I would never look at a painting the same ever again.

[@abidindicle8882]

Such a lovely speech

[@zuzannawisniewska4464]

The presenter is fantastic. Perfectly prepared for the presentation.He speaks fluently and to the point, he is impressive.

[@edwardtsang7348]

After watching this video, I’ll be able to enjoy this painting a lot more when I next see it 🙏🙏

[@jannetteberends8730]

Thanks for posting the possibility to zoom in on details of the painting. It’s indeed full of details. I can understand that Francesca find new details every time she watches the painting. So many to be seen there.

[@zuzannawisniewska4464]

Excellent presentation. Thank you for this wonderful piece about Canalleto.Many thanks from Chicago, Illinois.

[@stevebutchko1086]

Very well presented by Associate Curator Franscesca Whitlum-Cooper.

[@ExxylcrothEagle]

that building on the left is just so masterfully conveyed. And those weird unassuming clouds.

[@ho2cultcha]

Thank you for this wonderful piece about Canaletto! Now i'd love to see another video where the progression to Francesco Guardi is the focus - a comparison. Commerce is really a driving force for both of these artists - and possibly all artists in Italy at the time. It meant food on the table for all those kids. So many people denigrate certain crafts today by saying - 'that's just a tourist piece' - well that's exactly what these pieces are! Guardi didn't garner fame like Canaletto did during his life, but soon after his death, northerners went bonkers for Guardi! Canaletto is like perfect poetry - well structured, clearly inspired and perfect references. But Guardi is like music - an amazing concert - a feast for the senses! How he captures an entire essay in a single brushstroke, a gesture, an entire social commentary/critique! I'd love to help on it - from across the pond - if you'd like. The National Gallery has some of the best resources to do this. I'd use one of the capriccios with the arches - where the human interactions are most evident. There is so little info in English about Guardi and Canaletto too, for that matter. Lots of it in Italian though - i learned the language just to access those.

[@melvillehayes6305]

Brilliant presentation on the artist Canneletto and his postion in the tradition of briliance in Landscape Painting in a global perspective of his times !

[@leeanucha]

I can watch this all day long, especially this nice lady talk about these paintings. Thank you for posting.

[@hughwilliamson2190]

Thank-you for posting this. 'The Stonemason's Yard' is one of my favorite pictures in the National Gallery. The composition of shapes and colours with no dominating subject or point of focus invites quiet and extended contemplation. Please keep the online talks coming!

[@mercoid]

@JONATHAN SUTCLIFFE Clearly not.

[@nejafeja]

Thank you x

[@xaviermg271]

Thanks for shairng. Francesca was brilliant.

[@1964_AMU]

Very professionnal presentation! I learned something today.

[@1957bots8]

Thank you, to the speaker.

[@andrzejmaranda3699]

The National Gallery: FANTASTIC trip!

[@garymacmillan6401]

The painting behind her is of Eton College.

[@SuperMan-xy8ui]

Excellent commentary!!! Thank you for posting it!

[@hyunjalee3316]

I like this painting and the talk about it! Thank you for giving me wonderful time listening to the great picture!

[@tessmacie9924]

Thank you!

[@NeilGarrattAM]

This is a great video that takes me back to this fantastic room full of wonderful paintings, thank you for sharing this and all your other wonderful videos.

[@jmccallion2394]

These talks are excellent and enables the ordinary p[person to gain a good understanding and ability to love and appreciate this great gifts to Western culture. Well done!

[@nationalgallery]

Glad you like them! We have many more videos like this here: kzbin.info/aero/PLvb2y26xK6Y5fL_MDdSOB8FlqNGkLKSWb

[@furdiebant]

Great talk! That room is very special. One of the absolute best gallery rooms of any museum.

[@aclark903]

Prefer the earlier stuff..

[@colinmannion3760]

Brilliant talk - thank you. 🙂

[@brillianttec3504]

Thank you so much.

[@jamesfield1674]

Went to a exhibition of his in Worcester yesterday his Venice pieces are like photos from ages past the colour and detail is so vibrant... I WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ART!!!

[@luaevablue]

This was very interesting to listen to :) Thank you.

[@IrishManJT]

Excellent. Thanks

[@endikamartinezgutierrez6899]

Excellent presentation.

[@plaurens]

awesome video, and Kudos to that great presenter, she's perfect

[@ViktorGartner]

Fantastic, thank you for uploading.

[@subhendu7221]

Lovely commentary. Many thanks.

[@frogtastic1000]

Great painter

[@ancneves]

Excellent. Great talk. Thanks!

[@jorgegomez524]

Benfiiica!

[@NCX-mt5sy]

Perfect Lecturer.

[@Spetet]

Beauty and brains.

[@StefaniaOriglia31color]

thanks! interesting!

[@tamino27]

for me, as a german it is always confusing. When I think of Canaletto, I thave this wonderful vedutes of Dresden, Vienna and Warzaw from his nephew Bernardo Bellotto called Canaletto in my my mind.

[@jenniferjuniper97]

The question comes to mind, what is important about a stonecutting workshop scene? Could it be Canaletto is witnessing the fashioning of 'building blocks' used to repair the aging ground-level facade of the church in the background? Both are highlighted in white lime color and appear to be associated... So, this may be a depiction of the natural, growing, evolving Venice and its people behind his romanticized postcard canal scenes.

[@evangelist6277]

I just wish that instead of the distant view that there was a predominant closer view moving with the narration

[@randybackgammon890]

Thought the very same thing myself...The woman child and Mason himself could have done with lengthy analisis

[@holeymattress8128]

I would venture to guess the painting was commissioned by the owner of the mason's yard. The head mason(contractor)...he likely would have the means.

[@ho2cultcha]

if that were the case, i would expect to see some focus on the finished product. but interesting idea!

[@lyoncristiano8783]

Great

[@FF-so3su]

She is very good😊👍😊

[@apriljoymagic]

great

[@toddkindron8506]

Is the white sheet flapping in the breeze or flowing?

[@lukeyznaga7627]

For me, two of the great things of this talk are first, the WOMAN who is highly educated and can speak well, clearly and with knowledge. Two, these pictures are reasonably accurate pictures of what the artist SAW and lived in for his times. So when I look at the Stoneyards, I get a small insight to what something looked like, back then. And I can see the clothes and the atmosphere and landscape of those times. Its a window.

[@cherylnagy126]

Post Cards from Venice 😊

[@auraines6666]

Love to listen to the lecture but cannot see the painting because of the writing on top of the painting.

[@drnik67]

How ironic, that in the 18th century British people went to Europe because they felt themselves "marooned" from it. Two hundred years later and they've done it deliberately.... Anyway, a fascinating talk on a painter whose work entranced me from the first time I saw it, which was in the National Gallery.

[@cheryldodd-marko9787]

🕊🇺🇸💕

[@xyzllii]

'The British people felt very marooned in England.' No...that's the English people! Good talk though.

[@dmmw125]

Good point

[@sudhirchopde3334]

Why else all that 'Empire building?'

[@johntuffin3262]

Very good, but is the woman actually drawing water from the wellhead? It looks to me as though it hasn’t been put in position yet. Do you think it’s more likely that she is chipping out the inside, and it’s destined for the centre of a square?

[@OmmerSyssel]

I don't think women worked as stonemasons, especially not with an explicitly physical demanding and expensive material as marble. Not even our days well-fed and comfortable living feminist feels attracted to this demanding craft...

[@renzo6490]

I have always wondered why the British refer to the land across the channel as “Europe “. Are the British Isles not, also, Europe? Or are there seven continents with The British Isles a wholly separate and special thing? And, well, I don't want to sound like a pedant but really, someone should tell this expert on Canaletto that his first name is pronounced Jo- VAH- Nee and not Gee-o-VAH -nee. The letter i is placed after the initial G to soften it but it is silent. Much like the i is silent in ciao which we pronounce chow and not chee-ow.

[@danielthompson6448]

Renzo To a Brit the world is basically Britain and Foreigners. Seriously though, I guess because we are an Island we don't really feel like we're connected to Europe; and there are lots of little tiny, meaningless differences for a Brit when they enter Europe, such as driving on the different side of the road, so there is a bigger change than there might be for a German entering Vienna or Prague, it's just a short drive away and feels like the same place, swapping lanes is very difficult for us because we're very small minded. It also helps to feed our superiority complex where we can blame the UK's problems on 'those European's and also blame Europe for all of the UK's problems, which might seem the same and actually are, but this Brexit thing is making everyone a bit crazy and talking nonsense. And did I mention, Brits are awesome and Europe is the cause of all bad things in the UK, I don't think I made that clear. And getting Fish and Chips in Europe is a bloody nightmare, what's with all these foreign cuisines! We want a classic English meal like Tikka Masala.

[@renzo6490]

Daniel Thompson ...Thanks for your enlightening and amusing perspective . You make some good points. Power......When a people become powerful, they can believe that they are exceptional. I doubt that there are any groups which are immune to the temptation to see themselves as “better than” or Uber all others. My own country,the USA, certainly is not. It’s pathetic,really. We gather into tribes , identity everyone else as ‘other’, denigrate them and dehumanize them. I was appalled the first time I heard the phrase, “Wogs Begin At Calais”! Agatha Christie shines a light on this tendency of the British to think of everyone else on the planet as their guests. Murder on the Orient Express has Col. Arbuthnot say to a ‘European ‘ while in The Balkans, “Do you give your word, as a foreigner...” !! I imagine an invasion of the planet by aliens when all Earthlings finally can say , “ Humanity is my tribe.”

[@sudhirchopde3334]

Blame it on Henry8

[@janskeet1382]

She can’t say Coleorton properly either. It’s Cloor-ton. Ain’t that right ma’ duck

[@uffa00001]

"The letter i is placed after the initial G to soften it but it is silent. Much like the i is silent in ciao which we pronounce chow and not chee-ow." I would say, as an Italian, that it is not silent but it is pronounced as a diphthong (the two vowels belonging to the same syllable, Gio-van-ni) rather than as a hiatus, with the two vowels belonging to two different syllables (Gi-o-van-ni). A similar phenomenon happens with the Latin word "gloria", Italians pronunce it as a diphthong (glo-ria) while Germans and English pronounce it as a hiatus (glo-ri-a).

[@patrickdammar2508]

Hi my name is Dee and I have a print of Canaletto painting. is it of any value? or what should I do with it.?..thank you much!

[@babybutchie]

These superb presentations would be even better if less time were devoted to the rear of people's heads and instead showed the art itself.

[@a62243]

I still don't see why this is a master piece! Anyways I love those videos thanks for sharing:)

[@auraines6666]

And also the lighting is very poor which make difficult to appreciate the painting

[@alchemisttttt]

It doesn’t look as a stone yard , does it? This looks more like a ruins… parts of a column…

[@user-em3dj9tv8h]

разобраться - ничего особенного. НО... Каналетто жеж

[@papagen00]

She keeps saying "regatto". It's regatta.

[@uffa00001]

It's "Regata" with one t.

[@jaybennett5639]

Beautiful English voice & not one 'like'.

[@user-px8zs5me4k]

No plese let's get you right.looking picture mean litle point good older freind.Thank you.

[@marcionphilologos5367]

PLEASE be what more critical. Canaletto painted a beautiful reality (by distance/ styling/ impression) for the ruling aristocracy, to give them the feeling that society (CITY SCAPES) was under control and directed towards the Good........ The wide spread poverty by their nationalist, conservative, autarc, corrupt, traditionalist, militarist rule, THE DOWNFALL OF VENICE, was negated......... CAN WE ADMIRE ARTISTS TODAY WHO WHERE THEMSELVES TOTALLY CORRUPT???

[@Tt-t100]

Too much personal appreciations and very little words about the painting or the artist. Very amateur explanation.

[@tahiragibson6407]

Francesculus H - YOU are the amateur, Francesculus Homunculus!

[@Tt-t100]

Tahira Gibson Tahira is even a real name...?

[@OmmerSyssel]

@@tahiragibson6407 even amateurs are allowed voicing their opinion. Calm down...

[@papagen00]

The stonemasons picture is only a 'masterpiece' because our modern 'woke' society is obsessed with the underclass, 'unhoused residents', etc. Personally I don't care for this painting.

[@uffa00001]

It's not our "woken" society, it's that after the Napoleonic war there was a new interest for "ordinary scenes" paintings, and so this scene by Canaletto, which was "out of fashion" when it was painted, suddenly became more interesting. You can see a similar aesthetics in the Roman scenes by Bartolomeo Pinelli, which include women fighting and other mundane images. It's an "anti-rhetoric" aesthetics. There are previous illustrious examples naturally, (the picaresque genre) it's not something that begun around 1820. Architecture as well, with the Biedermeier style, becomes somehow anti-rhetoric in (continental) Europe.

[@docm27]

The use of the present tense for past events is a very irritating style of speech

[@2fast22]

this must be a joke: this is ridiculus