Imaginary View of Venice: The House with the Peristyle (right half)

In 1735, Canaletto turned from his usual painting of familiar Venetian landmarks to a series of 31 etchings of vedute (views), only 11 of which are identifiable locales. The rest represent either invented combinations of actual ancient and contemporary structures or original compositions of fictional elements. This print is an example of the latter, a dreamlike fantasy made plausible by a wealth of convincing, invented detail. Originally conceived and printed as one image, it may have been divided and each half reworked to allow for sales of two prints instead of one, resulting in greater profit. Certainly it was admired for its variety of descriptive line and for its romantic panorama of crumbling Venetian buildings bathed in sunlight.