A drawing of part of the Grand Canal in Venice. Part of the Rialto bridge can be seen in the distance. On the left hand side are Palazzo Cappello-Layard, Palazzo Grimani-Marcello, Palazzo Giustinian-Querini, Palazzo Bernardo, and Palazzo Papadopoli (formerly Palazzo Tiepolo-Coccina) with its obelisks. On the right are Palazzo Corner-Spinelli and Palazzo Grimani.

This drawing looks north-east along the central stretch of the Grand Canal from opposite Palazzo Barbarigo (now near the vaporetto stop of Sant’Angelo). Half of the Rialto bridge can just be seen in the distance as the canal bends to the left. In the right foreground is Palazzo Corner-Spinelli, built around 1490 by Mauro Codussi; beyond, the tallest building is the sixteenth-century Palazzo Grimani. On the left are the low Palazzi Cappello-Layard and Grimani-Marcello, followed by the taller Palazzi Giustinian-Querini and Bernardo. Further down the canal, surmounted by twin obelisks, is Palazzo Papadopoli (formerly Coccina-Tiepolo). On the horizon is the pointed belltower of San Bartolomeo, replaced after 1747 by a taller baroque structure.

Canaletto laid out the view on four openings of the Sketchbook, which as usual records only the outlines of the buildings, with no indication of shading. In the Woburn Abbey painting the light falls from the right (the usual direction), here from the left (which would require a late afternoon in the summer).

Catalogue entry adapted from Canaletto in Venice, London, 2005