CANALETTO
(b. 1697, Venezia, d. 1768, Venezia)

Rome: The Arch of Constantine (detail)

1742
Oil on canvas
Royal Collection, Windsor

The seated figure at the left, who has beside him a portfolio and ruler and is either writing or drawing, may well be intended as a self-portrait. This is particularly suggested by the figure's proximity to Canaletto's rather grand inscription asserting his authorship and the date of the painting, in a manner that replicates the carvings on the arch.