In the 1740s and 50s Canaletto drew many capriccios incorporating actual landscape elements with imaginary ones. These sold well to English visitors and diplomats. Many such Canalettos eventually came to rest in the Royal Collection. The two versions above of the same rustic scene – one in pen-and-ink alone, the other pen-and-wash – make it possible to observe this artist at work 275 years ago as he persuades the same material to serve different moods and registers.
