Brief Encounter

Look! There’s a crocodile in the Canaletto!

One of two enormous paintings depicting life on the Grand Canal in Venice really does contain a crocodile. The painting is a great example of how ‘hidden’ details reward a patient viewer who takes time to look and look again!  Encounters with art are often brief, about 2 seconds according to many. Even the most famous painting, the Mona Lisa (The Louvre, Paris) only merits an average of 15 seconds’ attention. But brief encounters can spark a lifetime of love.

This is the work of Italian artist Giovanni Antonio Canal (1697-1768), known as Canaletto, an important member of the 18th-century Venetian School. Two of his paintings (acknowledged to be among his best) were acquired by the Museum in 1982. If you want to find the hidden crocodile, you need to look at the Doge (the Duke) in his State Barge after the Ceremony of the Wedding of the Sea. Found it or do you give up? Find the two tall columns to left of the palace and look at the statues. On the right there’s a winged lion: on the left is a man with a spear. Look at the creature he is standing on…