Lost 見解（をとる） that once glorified London

by ROBIN SMITH

Last updated at 14:57 09 February 2007


Canaletto In England (Dulwich Picture Gallery, London)

Why live in London when you could live in Venice? Why paint 見解（をとる）s of London when you could paint Venice? The 広大な／多数の／重要な Venetian 見解（をとる） painter Canaletto lived and worked in England for no より小数の than nine years, between 1746 and 1755.

One of the first 絵s you glimpse in this unforgettable 展示 explains why: The City of London and Thames from Somerset House Terrace. It 明らかにする／漏らすs that we have lost one of the most beautiful cityscapes ever created.

Canaletto's expansive canvas is 支配するd by St Paul's Cathedral, now dwarfed by absurdities of modern architecture such as the hideous Gherkin, and about to be finally 難破させるd by the wretched Shard Of Glass, 非常に高い some 900ft over Wren's majestic masterpiece.

And look at Canaletto's skyline:

"Ships, towers, ドームs, theatres and 寺s 嘘（をつく）;

Open unto the fields and to the sky;

All 有望な and glittering in the smokeless 空気／公表する."

The spires of Wren's exquisite churches, immortalised by Wordsworth, number no より小数の than 36 in this 見解（をとる） alone - there were more - rising high above the 密談する／（身体を）寄せ集めるd 集まり of buildings that lined the river Thames.

And that was another excellent 推論する／理由 for an 追放するd Venetian to love London. Like Venice, this was a city that lived by water.

Canaletto's many 詳細（に述べる）d 製図／抽選s of the Thames 明らかにする／漏らす the dense daily traffic of a water-borne 全住民. The quickest way around the city in the 18th century was by water. We have lost that, since the Victorian system of 堤防s の近くにd off the river both from 見解（をとる） and 商売／仕事.

But what glories Canaletto conjures up. Here, for example, is the new Westminster 橋（渡しをする） under construction, a 選び出す／独身 bucket dangling against the sky beneath a 劇の arch.

There is Westminster Abbey and St John's, Smith Square, 'Queen Anne's footstool' as it was known, its 上昇傾向d '脚s' high in the 空気／公表する. Al ong the riverside, London's 古代の and modern palaces can be seen: Somerset House, York House, Lambeth Palace, the 祝宴ing House.

Many of these 広大な／多数の／重要な buildings were owned by Canaletto's patrons, who had made the Grand 小旅行する and were 熱烈な about Venice.

They 招待するd him to 記録，記録的な／記録する their country houses, and this 展示 含むs glorious landscapes that Canaletto painted どこかよそで in England, from Windsor to Warwick 城.

But London steals the show. In the 18th century, it had become the みごたえのある 資本／首都 of the most powerful nation on earth. Canaletto made sure it looked the part.

The 展示 runs until April 15. Tuesday-Friday, 10am-5pm; 週末s and bank holidays, 11am-5pm. の近くにd Mondays except Bank Holidays. Tickets £7 adults, £6 上級のs; £3 other 譲歩s; 制限のない 解放する／自由な 入ること／参加（者） for children and Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery (£30 選び出す／独身, £40 共同の; Young Friends, under 26, £15).

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