View of London

1743 · Private collection

landscape

This painting presents a view of the City of Westminster over the River Thames from Lambeth in London. It is among Joli's largest known works. The design closely follows Canaletto's view of London in the Lobkowicz collection in Prague.

About the Artist

Antonio Joli

1700 – 1777

Italian painter. He first studied in Modena with il Menia (Raffaello Rinaldi; fl 1713). After a period in Rome in the studios of a member of the Galli-Bibiena family and of Giovanni Paolo Panini he worked as a scene painter in Modena and Perugia. By 1735 he was in Venice, where he came into contact with Canaletto and again worked as a scene painter. He travelled widely in Europe, and from Germany went to London, where he lived from 1744 to 1748. He had a managerial position at the King's Theatre, Haymarket, and decorated the Richmond mansion of its director, John James Heidegger, with view paintings (in situ). In London he also produced topographical paintings. From 1750 to 1754 he worked in Madrid.

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