Canaletto: Venice, Vice & the Grand Tour

Venice in the 18th century was a city in elegant decline — bankrupt, politically irrelevant, yet still intoxicating. English gentlemen flocked there to gamble, flirt, drink, fall in love and buy art by the suitcaseful. Chief among their prizes were the sparkling Venetian views of Giovanni Canaletto, whose luminous canvases allowed them to bring home a slice of La Serenissima: sunlit canals, shimmering reflections, dogs yapping, gondoliers calling, laundry whipping in the breeze.

In this session Rose will step into the world of theatre and tourism to discover why Canaletto became the superstar of the Grand Tour — and why his vision of Venice continues to seduce us today.