From 1739 To 1761

The 18th century was a time of great change in the art world. New styles and movements emerged, and artists began to experiment with new techniques and materials. This period saw the rise of Neoclassicism and Rococo, as well as the emergence of new genres such as landscape painting and still life. Artists in the 18th century were also influenced by the Enlightenment, which emphasized reason and individual rights. This period was a time of great creativity and innovation in the art world, and many of the works produced during this time are still admired and studied today.

The Grand Canal, Venice, Looking Southeast, with the Campo della Carità to the Right

    Today, one would be looking at the modern Accademia Bridge from this position on the canal.
    The bell tower in Campo della Carità, on the right, fell long ago, but the adjoining church and former convent, with a rebuilt entrance facade, now houses the Galleria dell'Accademia.
    Canaletto made many drawings on-site, which he used to construct views like this one in the studio.
    The painting belongs to a series of twenty views he probably painted for Joseph Smith.

Allegorical Figure Representing Geometry

    This allegorical figure of Geometry, identified by the inscription on the base of the feigned statue, is from the Palazzo Valle Marchesini Sala in Vicenza.
    The simulated architecture, foreshortened from a viewing point in the center of the room, was carried out by a specialist in this type of work, Girolamo Mengozzi Colonna, who collaborated with Tiepolo on a number of commissions.
    The frescoes were probably commissioned by Count Giorgio Marchesini, and their iconography may reflect his particular interest in Freemasonry.

The Adoration of the Magi

    Tiepolo's compositional ingenuity is apparent everywhere in this oil sketch.
    The sketch seems to have never resulted in a finished altarpiece.
    The sketch is crowded and compressed.

Lake Nemi and Genzano from the Terrace of the Capuchin Monastery

    Wilson visited Lake Nemi, some twenty miles southeast of Rome in the Alban Hills, in 1754.
    This painting probably dates to 1756 or 1757, either just before or after he returned to London.
    The view, which combines topographical accuracy and picturesque idealization, is bathed in a soft, golden light that follows the precedent of artists active in Rome in the seventeenth century, especially Claude Lorrain.

Armchair (part of a set)

    This chair is part of a set of twelve armchairs and two settees ordered in Paris in 1753 by Baron Johann Ernst Bernstorff, Danish ambassador to the court of Versailles between 1744 and 1751.
    After returning to Denmark, Bernstorff commissioned this seat furniture for the tapestry room of his new residence in Copenhagen that was hung with four wall tapestries of the Amours des Dieux series woven at the Beauvais Manufactory.
    The tapestry covers are woven with animal and bird subjects after designs by the painter Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686 - 1755).

Pirna: The Obertor from the South

    Bellotto was Canaletto's nephew and student who himself was to become an internationally renown view painter.
    Between 1747 and 1758, he worked for the court of Dresden and painted the nearby village of Pirna, depicted here with its city gate, adjacent tower (known as the Obertor), church, and town hall.
    Friederich August II, elector of Saxony and king of Poland, and Count Brühl, his prime minister, commissioned larger scale views of Pirna between 1753 and 1756.
    A private patron must have commissioned this reduced replica either concurrently or sometime in the 1760s.

Ancient Rome

    Ancient Rome is a pendant to Modern Rome and catalogs the most famous antique monuments in the city.
    It was commissioned by the Count de Stainville, later the Duke de Choiseul, who is seen at the center with a guidebook in hand.
    Panini includes himself behind the chair.
   The gentlemen are admiring a copy of an ancient fresco
    The Pantheon, Colosseum, Trajan's Column, the Farnese Hercules, and the Laocoön can be identified.

Pair of candlesticks