I due dipinti illustrati fanno parte di una ristrettissima cerchia di lavori di Canaletto nei quali, intorno al 1740, il maestro si dedicò alla tecnica della tempera su carta, intorno al 1740 circa. Si tratta di una serie di sole sei opere conosciute di dimensioni molto simile raffiguranti paesaggi di terraferma con rovine classiche e architetture con figure. Il primo dei due rappresenta una cappella su di una collina in prossimità della costa, fiancheggiata da una strada che scende verso il primo piano dove sono presenti rovine. Sul fondo un ponte ad arco che collega gli edifici del lato sinistro della composizione mentre figurette schizzate velocemente animano la scena. Questa composizione può essere messa in relazione a disegni noti del pittore, uno schizzo conservato nello Schlossmuseum di Weimar (JG Links, un integratore a Canaletto di WG Constable, London, 1998 , pag. 53, n. 805 *, pl. 240), un altro, molto più rifinito, nel Victoria and Albert Museum di Londra (Constable I, pl.152, II, n. 805). La seconda composizione, dai toni più luminosi mostra invece rovine architettoniche con un grande arco sulla sinistra che sfonda prospetticamente verso un paesaggio con architetture che compare sullo sfondo. Anche in questo caso alcune figure animano la scena in primo piano. Questa composizione è a tutt’oggi inedita anche se ricorda i primi disegni romani, in particolare le rovine di un edificio a cupola e un arco riprodotti in un disegno conservato a Windsor (Constable I, pl.153, II, n 815;. Kozakiewicz I, p illustrata 0,226), mentre la parte inferiore del lato destro è ripresa in controparte in un disegno di Bellotto (Hessischen Landesmuseum, Darmstadt) derivato probabilmente da Canaletto e da un’incisione (Kozakiewicz nn. 114-115, entrambi illustrati) Esposizioni: Barcellona, Centro di Cultura Contemporanea, Canaletto: Una Vanècia Imaginaria, 20 Febbraio - 13 maggio 2001 Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Canaletto: Una Venecia Imaginaria, 29 maggio - 2 SETTEMBRE 2001 Passariano (Udine), Villa Manin, Da Canaletto a Zuccarelli: il paesaggio veneto del Settecento, 8 agosto - 16 novembre 2003 Bibliografia Canaletto: Una Vanècia Imaginaria, 2001 Catalogo della mostra di Barcellona, pp.172-7, n. 67-70 Canaletto: Una Venecia Imaginaria, 2001 Catalogo della mostra di Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, pp. 222-7, n .77-80 Da Canaletto a Zuccarelli: il paesaggio veneto del Settecento, 2003 Catalogo della mostra di Pasarino, pp.384-9, n.105-8 Scheda del Prof. Charles Beddington At several stages in his career, Canaletto displayed an interest in technical experimentation which enhances even further his stature as an artist over that of any of this contemporaries. In the late 1720s he briefly used copper as a support, and nine paintings on copperplates are known. Similarly, when occupying a studio over a cabinet-maker's during his years in London, on four occasions he painted views on ungrounded mahogany panels. Also during his English period Canaletto replaced his normal use of a russet colored ground with one of light grey. This desire for new challenges is particularly evident in the 1740s, when, as well as expanding his repertoire to mainland subjects, for a period he showed a notable interest in - and aptitude for - etching. Thus it should come as no surprise to find him trying his hand at tempera, a medium in which such notable results had been achieved by Marco Rici, an artist who had such a strong formative influence on his style. The re-emergence of these two gouaches, which I have studied in the original, brings to six the number of known works in this medium by Canaletto. They are entirely consistent in handling with the only four works by Canaletto in this medium known hitherto, a group in a private collection, said to be in Milan. All are datable to the 1740s. They are of very similar dimensions (36.5 x 53.5 cm.), and were similarly unknown until their inclusion in the following exhibitions (on each occasion the entry or entries was by Annalia Delneri): Barcellona, Centre de Cultura Contemporània, Canaletto: Una Vanècia Imaginària, 20 February - 13 May 2001, pp.172-7, nos.67-70, all illustrated in colour. Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Canaletto: Una Venecia Imaginaria, 29 May - 2 September 2001, pp.222-7, nos.77-80, all illustrated in colour. Passariano (Udine), Villa Manin, Da Canaletto a Zuccarelli: il paesaggio veneto del Settecento, 8 August - 16 November 2003, pp.384-9, nos.105-8, al illustrated in colour (the illustrations for nos.106-7 switched). Variants of the compositions of three of those were already knoen:of the Tomb by the Lagoon, a closely corresponding painting in the Berlin Gemäldegalerie (W. G. Constable, Canaletto, London, 1962, II, no. 486(b); S. Kozakiewicz, Bernardo Bellotto, Recklinghausen/London, 1972, II, pp.484-5, no. Z391, illustrated) and a varinat in the Uffizzi (Constable no. 486; Kozakiewicz no. Z 390, illustrated); of the Cylindrical Tower near a Bridge by the Lagoon a variant drawing (Constable I, pl.152; II, no. 806); and of the Castle on a Bridge by the Lagoon a closely related painting (Constable I, pl.89, II, no.481). PRints by Fabio Berardi (1728-1788) show the first two compositions, in reverse, the second with variantions. The fourth composition was, however, previously completely unknown. It shows A Ruined Demi-Dome with a Lantern by the Lagoon and suggests, as Delneri has pointed out, That Canaletto here again,as often in the early 1740s, revisited the drawings which he had made in Rome in his youth in 1719-1720, all but one of which were retained in the studio throughout his career. Of the present two gouaches, one, the Chapel on the Side of a Hill, has similarly already been known in variant drawings, one, a compositional sketch in the Schlossmuseum, Weimar (J.G. Links, A Supplement to W.G. Constable's Canaletto, London, 1998, p. 53, no. 805*, pl. 240), the other, far more finished, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Constable I, pl.152, II, no. 805). Those, and a related engraving by Berardi in reverse (Constable I, pl. 152), all show entirely different figures, and part of a carriage at lower left. They do not show the prominent classical architectural fragments in the foreground, and a church and other buildings close the view to the Langoon on the right. There are numerous other minor variations, and none show the pink flag on the belfry of the chapel. A desire to avoid axact exact repetition is characteristic of Canaletto's practise at all stages in his carrer. The other composition, that of the Capriccio of Clasical Ruins with a Man before a Crucifix, is, like the Ruined Demi-Dome with a Lantern by the Lagoon from the other group, hitherto completely unknown. This too, recalls the early Roman drawings, in this case particularly that of Ruins of a domed Building and a Triumphal Arch recorded in a later drawing at Windsor (Constable I, pl.153, II, no. 815; Kozakiewicz I, illustrated p.226). The lower part of the right side of the composition is the reflected in a drawing by Bellotto in the Hessischen Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, presumably derived from Canaletto, and in an etching (Kozakiewicz nos. 114-115, both illustrated). The attribution has been independently confirmed by Dario Succi from photographs. 25 October 2011