Theater Scenery backdrop?

The painting : "Veduta Prospettica (Scenografia teatrale)" - Perspective View (theater set design) - is very likely to be the only image that we have received from Canaletto's work in the theaters with his father Bernardo.

It is not sure if it has to be considered a Capriccio, or perhaps an early study for a theater set, considering the period it has been recognized to belong.

It may have been done immediately after Canaletto’s stay in Rome (1718-1720), since it shows a veritable repertoire of ancient roman ruins, and it is quite different from other Capriccios or Vedute.

The Italian Art scholar Stefano Susinno has recognized it as a unique example related to theater design in Canaletto’s oeuvre, considering the drawing, the points of light and similarities with a Capriccio preserved at the Galleria dell'Accademia Venezia and with a second painting, of the same dimensions, preserved in Cologne.