Canaletto’s Venice Revisited

01 Apr 2022 - 25 Sep 2022
One of several depictions of a Regatta on the Grand Canal by Canaletto

The National Maritime Museum has taken advantage of the temporary closure of the Duke of Bedford’s stately home of Woburn Abbey to host this major display of Woburn’s collection of scenes of Venice and its waterways by Italian artist Canaletto. The twenty-four paintings, commissioned in 1731 by the 4th Duke of Bedford during his Grand Tour, have hung in the Woburn Abbey dining room for over two hundred years, and has not previously been on public view in London.

Unsurprisingly, given the museum’s maritime focus, the exhibition pays particular attention to the boating and water-based dimension of Venetian life depicted in the artist’s work. However, by supplementing the paintings with other objects from the museum collections at Greenwich, and contextualising the art with an accompanying investigation of the twin challenges of rising sea levels and mass tourism via cruise ships, the exhibition also highlights the modern-day threats posed to the city depicted in the artwork.

Attraction / Event Details
  • Location
  • Address
    National Maritime Museum, Romney Road, Greenwich, London SE10 9NF
  • Nearest Tube
    Nearest Tube

    Cutty Sark (DLR)

See the National Maritime Museums' Getting Here page for public transport, cycling and driving information.

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Book tickets for the Canaletto Revisited Exhibition here.

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Attraction / Event Details
  • Location
  • Address
    National Maritime Museum, Romney Road, Greenwich, London SE10 9NF
  • Nearest Tube
    Nearest Tube

    Cutty Sark (DLR)