This is one of a series of twelve views by Canaletto of the Grand Canal which are all the same format. The pictures form the basis of the fourteen engraved plates in Visentini's 'Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum' (Venice, 1735), thus providing an uncontested date for completion. It is thought that they originated in the years around 1730. The paintings were all acquired by George III with the collection of Consul Smith.

The central stretch of the Grand Canal is shown, looking south-west from the left side of the Rialto bridge, about ten steps up from Campo San Bartolomeo - Canaletto painted the lateral steps approaching the bridge at the far bottom left of the composition to indicate the vantage point. After the Campo come the Riva di Ferro, the Ponte della Pescaria and the Riva di Carbon (the area was traditionally the home of the iron workshops and charcoal burners). On the quayside is a wooden hut, possibly for the sale of lottery tickets. The left bank of the canal beyond is dominated by the massive sixteenth-century Palazzo Grimani. In the far distance is the façade of Ca' Foscari, as the canal turns sharply to the left.

Much of the right bank, beyond the shops of the Fondamenta del Vin, is hidden from view by the slight curve of the canal. Whereas in the previous painting Canaletto opened out the spaces, here he has narrowed the canal, leaving only a narrow channel between the many commercial vessels moored either side.

The painting is richer in tone and more dramatic in lighting than most of the Grand Canal series, and is probably one of the earlier paintings in the group. It must have been painted several years before a significantly weaker version now in Houston, which was finished by 22 August 1730 when payment was sent to Canaletto through Smith.

Catalogue entry adapted from Canaletto in Venice, London, 2005