In 1725 Canaletto met two British residents, the art impresario Owen McSwiney and the merchant Joseph Smith. McSwiney invited him to participate in a project to furnish English houses with large, imaginary landscape paintings, and also ordered a number of small topographical paintings on copper, likewise for the English market. McSwiney, however, was soon supplanted as Canaletto's 'manager' by Joseph Smith. Besides small paintings for the market, Smith commissioned a series of six large canvases from the master showing freely conceived, theatrical views of Piazza San Marco and its surroundings intended for his own house, followed by a number of views of the Grand Canal.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 12 minutes): Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto in G major for two mandolins and orchestra, RV 532

Preview	Picture Data	File Info	Comment
	The Grand Canal near the Ponte di Rialto 1725 Oil on canvas, 90,5 x 134,6 cm Private collection	882*600 True Color 86 Kb
	The Grand Canal from Rialto toward the North 1725 Oil on canvas, 89,5 x 131,5 cm Private collection	889*602 True Color 64 Kb
	Doge Palace c. 1725 Oil on canvas, 65 x 86 cm Columbia Museum of Art, Columbus	974*628 True Color 126 Kb
	Rio dei Mendicanti: Looking South c. 1725 Oil on canvas, 69,5 x 97,5 cm Gemäldegalerie, Dresden	1123*730 True Color 150 Kb
	Grand Canal: Looking North-East toward the Rialto Bridge c. 1725 Oil on canvas, 146 x 234 cm Gemäldegalerie, Dresden	1186*730 True Color 141 Kb
	Grand Canal: Looking North-East toward the Rialto Bridge (detail) c. 1725 Oil on canvas Gemäldegalerie, Dresden	1149*698 True Color 191 Kb
	Entrance to the Grand Canal: Looking East c. 1725 Oil on canvas, 65 x 98 cm Gemäldegalerie, Dresden	1112*730 True Color 163 Kb
	Santi Giovanni e Paolo and the Scuola di San Marco c. 1725 Oil on canvas, 125 x 165 cm Gemäldegalerie, Dresden	1030*769 True Color 125 Kb
	San Giacomo di Rialto 1725-26 Oil on canvas, 95,5 x 117 cm Gemäldegalerie, Dresden	807*664 True Color 72 Kb
	San Giacomo di Rialto (detail) 1725-26 Oil on canvas Gemäldegalerie, Dresden	847*602 True Color 79 Kb
	Santi Giovanni e Paolo and the Scuola di San Marco 1726 Oil on canvas, 90,5 x 136 cm Private collection	876*600 True Color 71 Kb
	The Grand Canal near Santa Maria della Carità 1726 Oil on canvas, 90 x 131,5 cm Private collection	1021*695 True Color 85 Kb
	La Punta della Dogana (Custom Point) 1726-28 Oil on canvas, 46 x 62,5 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna	984*659 True Color 137 Kb
	Grand Canal: The Rialto Bridge from the South c. 1727 Oil on copper, 45,5 x 62,5 cm Private collection	1024*771 True Color 145 Kb
	The Stonemason's Yard 1726-30 Oil on canvas, 124 x 163 cm National Gallery, London	1100*852 True Color 149 Kb
	The Stonemason's Yard (detail) 1726-30 Oil on canvas National Gallery, London	800*1120 True Color 156 Kb
	The Grand Canal from Campo San Vio towards the Bacino 1729-34 Oil on canvas, 46 x 77,5 cm Royal Collection, Windsor	994*596 True Color 169 Kb
	View of San Giovanni dei Battuti at Murano 1725-28 Oil on canvas, 66 x 128 cm The Hermitage, St. Petersburg	1254*640 True Color 90 Kb
	Venice: The Piazzetta Looking South-west towards S. Maria della Salute 1725-30 Oil on canvas, 172,1 x 136,2 cm Royal Collection, Windsor	802*1019 True Color 117 Kb
	The Piazzetta, Looking toward the Clock Tower 1726-28 Oil on canvas, 172 x 135 cm Royal Collection, Windsor	800*1020 True Color 117 Kb
	The Piazzetta towards San Giorgio Maggiore c. 1724 Oil on canvas Royal Collection, Windsor	770*1067 True Color 119 Kb
	Grand Canal: Looking North from Near the Rialto Bridge c. 1726 Oil on canvas, 150 x 197 cm Gemäldegalerie, Dresden	1353*1000 True Color 165 Kb
	Grand Canal: Looking from Palazzo Balbi c. 1726 Oil on canvas, 150 x 197 cm Gemäldegalerie, Dresden	1353*1000 True Color 163 Kb
	The Grand Canal 1728-29 Oil on canvas, 45 x 73 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence	1104*700 True Color 152 Kb