Bernardo Canal

1664 – 1744

Italian painter, the father of Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal). He was a celebrated painter of theatrical scenery and opera sets, working with his brother, Cristoforo. However, he painted a few ' vedute ', too, all dated from the 1730s. Canaletto's early work develops from that of his father, and eclipses it very rapidly in the early 1720s. Bernardo and his son Giovanni Antonio are documented in Rome as the stage scenery painters for Alessandro Scarlatti's operas held at the Teatro Capranica during Carnival in 1720. Canaletto's Roman sojourn marked the advent of his 'vedutismo.' The father had access to the son's establishment and served as Prior of the Collegio dei Pittori in 1739.

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