Giovanni Antonio Canal Giovanni Antonio Canal, commonly known as canaletto, was born in Venice on October 18, 1697, to Bernardo Canal, a painter of theatrical scene settings, and Artemisia Barbieri. He was the son of a noble family steeped in artistic tradition—Bernardo Canal had himself trained as an artist—and his early life foreshadowed his extraordinary future career. Canaletto’s formative years were marked by exposure to Venetian…