A View of Walton Bridge

A View of Walton Bridge is an oil on canvas painted by Canaletto in 1754, during his stay in England, where he had arrived in 1746 to be nearer the wealthy British patrons he had served in Italy. Although he had become famous for his views of Venice, in London he worked mainly for great houses and public buildings, and he also produced several pictures of the newly built Westminster Bridge. This painting records a specific moment in the history of the Thames: the construction of a new bridge at Walton, southwest of the capital, which was to replace an older ferry crossing. Work began in 1748 to designs by the architect and engineer William Etheridge, and the bridge was completed in 1750. The work was one of five commissioned by Thomas Hollis. Canaletto included himself in the foreground, sketching the scene, a detail that turns the view into a reflection on looking and recording. The bridge was replaced in 1788 by a stone structure, which gives the canvas particular documentary value.

Painter

Giovanni Antonio Canal

Date

1754

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

487 × 764 cm

Museum

Dulwich Picture Gallery, London Borough of Southwark

Genre

Veduta, landscape painting

Depicts

Walton Bridge, River Thames, Thomas Hollis, Old Walton Bridge, London

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