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Notes
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Canaletto worked in England from 1746 to late 1755, except for an eight-month return to Venice. This view of Greenwich Hospital from the Isle of Dogs may have been painted about 1752, perhaps to mark the Hospital's completion the previous year. He painted two other views of it, one now lost, the other on loan to Tate Britain from a private collection. This version takes a more realistic low viewpoint and is much more accurate, arguing some better, later knowledge of the site, which Canaletto would have visited, given its artistic celebrity after Thornhill had completed the ceiling of the Hospital's Painted Hall in 1712. Inigo Jones's Queen's House is in the centre, with the Royal Observatory on the hill above. Rysbrack's statue of George II is visible in the centre of the Grand Square, behind the central water-stairs, and figures parade the riverfront Five-Foot Walk.
The detailing is typical of Canaletto's work. The symmetry of the classical facade is counterbalanced by the asymmetric lines of the shipping in the foreground. A variety of craft have been portrayed on the Thames, but Canaletto also uses the visual devices of his Venetian Grand Canal paintings, such as oars, poles and sticks. The central vista is opened up and the foreground darkened to accentuate the light on the building.
Title
Greenwich Hospital from the North Bank of the Thames
Date
c.1752
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 68.58 x W 106.68 cm
Accession number
BHC1827
Work type
Painting
National Maritime Museum
Romney Road, Greenwich, London, Greater London SE10 9NF England
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