Stephen Fry on Canaletto's 'Venice, the Bucintoro at the Molo on Ascension Day'

Upon first encounter with Canaletto's magnificent landscape ‘Venice, the Bucintoro at the Molo on Ascension Day’, actor and writer Stephen Fry described himself as ‘gobsmacked’. Like Fry, Canaletto was a fellow denizen of the theatre (by trade a theatrical scenery painter), and here he turns a glorious spring day into a stage for dozens of characters and boats gathered to watch the procession of the Doge in his golden barge. Through Canaletto’s eyes, the canal shimmers and clouds scud behind the opulent architecture of a city that continues to beguile visitors to this day. 📅 Old Masters | New York | 4 February