Venice unmasked: Canaletto and the portrait of a city

Event information

• Type: Talks & conversations: Talk
• Date: Thursday, 23 July 2026
• Tickets: Free
• Location: Online
• Official page: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/events/venice-unmasked-canaletto-and-the-portrait-of-a-city-23-07-2026

Details

About

Take a close look at one of the most spectacular paintings in the National Gallery: Canaletto's ‘A Regatta on the Grand Canal’ (about 1740).

Nearly two metres wide, the painting pulses with life – racing gondolas, Venetian masks, cheering crowds and the glittering palaces of the Grand Canal receding into the distance with almost photographic precision. Yet this dazzling realism is built on illusion: geometry, stagecraft and theatrical invention in perfect balance.

Join Dr Carlo Corsato, who will guide you through the painting layer by layer. Explore the annual boat race and its working-class champions, the masked spectators and Grand Tour visitors jostling for the best view, and the extraordinary architecture of Venice, a city built on water. He will also compare the two versions of this scene in the National Gallery's collection, revealing what Canaletto changed and why.

Discover how this view of Venice becomes something richer. It’s not just a cityscape, it’s a portrait of an entire culture putting itself on display for the world.

Speaker

Dr Carlo Corsato is a Curator and Gallery Educator. Experienced in adult education, he teaches at Morley College and has lectured at the Courtauld Institute and University of St Andrews. He is passionate about history, digital technologies and audience engagement. His publications include ‘Lives of Titian’ and ‘Lives of Tintoretto’.