1720: First Drawings in Rome
Canaletto's rejection of Theater work and the beginning of his new career
These are the drawings that Canaletto did in Rome in the last year he was there, while working with father Bernardo.
They are supposedly the first attempts he did to see how he could manage reproducing on paper the sceneries that came from nature and from an outstanding city as Rome is.
The atmosphere in the original drawings is quite lifeless due to the action of the 300 years since they were done, so I enhanced them quite a bit to capture their original soul and color, and you can evaluate it here on the top: the original drawing, then the enhanced one.
The one on top is the 23rd drawing of the series, as Canaletto wrote a number on each one, and in the popup images they go from the #1 to the #22, in sequence, with #19missing, which should be in Darmstadt (A.E. 2186); Constable-Links 713 (238, 19); illustrated in colour Cini catalogue 2001, p. 49).
On each drawing it can be seen its number and a "Antonio Canal Dellineó" on the left and "IN ROMA" on the right (# ... Antonio Canal outlined it ... IN ROMA).
On drawing #2, the Arch of Constantine, can be found a date "Augusto X 1720" (August 10 1720), right at the end of the abundance of filler text , and gives us the timing for this whole work.
Detail of drawing #2 - View of the Arch of Constantine, Rome - size (HxW): 2.7x8.2 cm
The last theatre work that Canaletto and his father did in Rome was for the Carnival of 1720, and they very likely stayed a little more time to see if some new work would come up.
Canaletto, in the meantime may have taken advantage of that free time to experiment his drawing skills on the Roman monuments.
Some of these images will be replicated in future drawings, etchings or paintings in later years. Also Bernardo Bellotto used these same exact framings in a couple of his paintings.
The drawings are quite small, done on a piece of paper with the size of about 15.9 x 22.8 cm, just a little more than half of an A4 sheet of the paper we use nowadays in a printer, but the abundance of detail and the meticulousness present in them is a clear sign of the style that we will later appreciate in all Canaletto's production.
![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #23 - A view of the Temple of Mars Ultor, and the Arco dei Pantani, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with light brown wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d186_A-view-of-the-Temple-of-Mars-Ultor-and-the-Arco-dei-Pantani--Rome--British-Museum-104868001.jpg)
![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #23 - A view of the Temple of Mars Ultor, and the Arco dei Pantani, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with light brown wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d186a_A-view-of-the-Temple-of-Mars-Ultor-and-the-Arco-dei-Pantani--Rome--British-Museum-104868001a.jpg)
Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #23 - A view of the Temple of Mars Ultor, and the Arco dei Pantani, Rome
Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with light brown wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - size (HxW): 15.8x23 cm
Enhanced version
![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #1 - View of the Tiber and Rome from the Basilica of St Valentino on the Via Flaminia - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey-brown wash, three vertical ruled lines in black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d165a_View-of-the-Tiber-and-Rome-from-the-Basilica-of-St-Valentino-on-the-Via-Flaminia--British-Museum-104846001a.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #4 - Ruins in the Forum looking towards the Capitol - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d168a_Ruins-in-the-Forum-looking-towards-the-Capitol--British-Museum-104849001.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #7 - The Baths of Caracalla - Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d171a_The-Baths-of-Caracalla--Rome--British-Museum-104852001.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #10 - The Pyramid of Cestius and Porta S Paolo, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d174a_The-Pyramid-of-Cestius-and-Porta-S-Paolo--Rome--British-Museum-104855001a.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #13 - View of the Arch of Drusus, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d177a_View-of-the-Arch-of-Drusus--Rome--British-Museum-104858001.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #16 - Interior of the Colosseum, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey-brown wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d180a_Interior-of-the-Colosseum--Rome--British-Museum-104862001a.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #20 - View of the Piazza del Campidoglio with Palazzo Senatorio, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey-brown wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d183a_View-of-the-Piazza-del-Campidoglio-with-Palazzo-Senatorio--Rome--British-Museum-104865001a.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [1720] - #2 - View of the Arch of Constantine, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720__d166a_View-of-the-Arch-of-Constantine--Rome--British-Museum-104847001.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #5 - Temple of Antonius and Faustina, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d169a_Temple-of-Antonius-and-Faustina-Rome--British-Museum-104850001.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #8 - The Baths of Caracalla - Rome - with S Cesareo seen through an archway - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d172a_The-Baths-of-Caracalla--Rome--with-S-Cesareo-seen-through-an-archway--British-Museum-104853001.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #11 - The Thermae of Caracalla, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d175a_The-Thermae-of-Caracalla--Rome--British-Museum-104856001.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #14 - The Church of SS Domenico e Sisto, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d178a_The-Church-of-SS-Domenico-e-Sisto--Rome--British-Museum-104859001a.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #17 - The Temple of Venus and Rome, with S Francesca Romana - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey-brown wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d181a_The-Temple-of-Venus-and-Rome-with-S-Francesca-Romana--British-Museum-104863001a.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #21 - A view of Rome from the Ponte Fabricius, with the Ponte Rotto and S Maria in Cosmedin - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with light brown wash, over black chalk (three vertical ruled lines dividing the composition into four equal parts) - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d184a_A-view-of-Rome-from-the-Ponte-Fabricius--with-the-Ponte-Rotto-and-S-Maria-in-Cosmedin--British-Museum-104866001a.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #3 - Arch of Septimius Severus, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d167a_Arch-of-Septimius-Severus--Rome--British-Museum-104848001.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #6 - View in Rome of the Basilica of Constantine at left and the Basilica of S Francesco Romana at right - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d170a_View-in-Rome-of-the-Basilica-of-Constantine-at-left-and-the-Basilica-of-S-Francesco-Romana-at-right--British-Museum-104851001.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #9 - The Arch of Janus (Ianus Quadrifons), with S Giorgio in Velabro at right, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d173a_The-Arch-of-Janus-(Ianus-Quadrifons)-with-S-Giorgio-in-Velabro-at-right--Rome--British-Museum-104854001.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #12 - A half-domed ruin with circular openings in the roof, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d176a_A-half-domed-ruin-with-circular-openings-in-the-roof--Rome--British-Museum-104857001.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #15 - The Colosseum, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d179a_The-Colosseum--Rome--British-Museum-104860001a.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #18 - Exterior walls of the Colosseum, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with grey-brown wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d182a_Exterior-walls-of-the-Colosseum--Rome--British-Museum-104864001a.jpg)
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![Canaletto: [ca. 1720] - #22 - A view of Piazza S Giovanni Laterano, Rome - Drawing - Pen and brown ink, with light brown wash, over black chalk - British Museum, London - Enhanced version](../images_db/Canaletto_1720ca__d185a_A-view-of-Piazza-S-Giovanni-Laterano--Rome--British-Museum-104867001a.jpg)
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