A drawing of the Piazzetta dei Leoni in Venice, with Piazza San Marco beyond. On the left is the northern façade of San Marco. On the left is a house with awnings. Between the two buildings is a large wellhead. Beyond, in the piazza, part of the Procuratie Nuove can be seen. In the distance, on the right, is the church of San Geminiano.

The Piazzetta dei Leoni (or Campo San Basso, from its adjacent church), on the north side of San Marco, was laid out in its present form in 1722. The two lions that give the square its name were carved in pink Verona marble by Giovanni Bonazza in emulation of the medieval lions often found supporting the columns of church porches in northern Italy.

The buildings at the edges of the composition have been reduced in scale, and Canaletto has omitted the bell-storey of the Campanile that should be seen through the pinnacles of the basilica. Beyond is the Piazza, with the arcades of the Procuratie Nuove in shadow. San Geminiano at the far end of the square is partly hidden by an awning against the base of the Torre dell’Orologio, which is just out of view.

The composition is close to that of several paintings of the early 1730s, and to a small etching by Canaletto (Bromberg 25). An outline copy of the composition by Bellotto at Rotterdam emulates the calligraphic notation for the figures that Canaletto was to develop around 1740. A drawing by Canaletto, of a similar view, but in portrait format, is in Chantilly.

Catalogue entry adapted from Canaletto in Venice, London, 2005