Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Canaletto's Camera

Canaletto's Camera

Steadman, Philip

Paperback

Art Criticism & TheoryGeneral World HistoryPhotography History & Criticism

ISBN10: 180008840X
ISBN13: 9781800088405
Publisher: UCL Press
Published: Jan 5 2026
Pages: 308
Weight: 1.49
Height: 0.57 Width: 6.17 Depth: 9.26
Language: English
Did Canaletto paint what he saw, or what he wanted us to see? Exploring the boundary between observation and invention.

Canaletto's Camera provides a revelatory look at how the Venetian master Antonio Canaletto (1697-1768) used the camera obscura, a precursor to the modern camera, to create his meticulous cityscapes. Drawing on new research, Steadman examines Canaletto's connections to contemporary scientists and his reliance on measured architectural drawings, discovering previously unrecognized techniques that shaped his iconic views of Venice and London.

By analyzing Canaletto's sketches and reconstructing an 18th-century camera obscura, Steadman and his colleagues have recreated the artist's process, demonstrating how he traced real scenes, altered them in his finished works, and even engaged in a form of early photomontage. Through digital overlays and side-by-side comparisons with contemporary photographs, the book challenges assumptions about Canaletto's realism and artistic manipulation.

Lavishly illustrated and deeply engaging, Canaletto's Camera is a compelling read for art historians, scholars of optical devices, and those fascinated by the intersection of art and science.

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