A single unframed sheet of cream-toned paper carrying a monochrome sepia/grey reproduction of a Canaletto view of Venice, set within generous plain margins. The image shows a sunlit stone quayside with small groups of figures - some standing, some seated on the ground - beneath a tall classical building on the right, its columns and balustrade topped with carved statues and a flagpole. Boats and a tall lateen-rigged sail sit at the water's edge to the left, with masts and shipping beyond, and in the middle distance the great domed church of Santa Maria della Salute rises against a sky of soft cumulus cloud.

Beneath the image, printed in a flowing italic script, is the caption "Canaletto Santa Maria della Salute" with "Windsor Castle" on the line below, and lower still in small type "Copyright The Fine Arts Publishing Co Ltd". The reverse of the sheet is completely blank apart from light age-toning and a few small foxing specks near one edge.

Background
Canaletto - Giovanni Antonio Canal (Venice, 1697-1768) - is the most celebrated of all painters of Venice, famed for luminous, precisely observed views of the Grand Canal, the Piazzetta and the Bacino that were bought in quantity by British Grand Tourists. The caption line "Windsor Castle" indicates that the original painting reproduced here is in the Royal Collection at Windsor, which holds an outstanding group of Canaletto paintings and drawings acquired by George III in 1762 from Consul Joseph Smith, the artist's patron and agent in Venice. The church itself, Santa Maria della Salute, was built by Baldassare Longhena as a votive church following the plague epidemic of 1630-31 and became one of Canaletto's signature motifs.

The sheet was issued by The Fine Arts Publishing Co Ltd of London, one of a number of British art publishers who from the late Victorian period into the early twentieth century produced monochrome photographic and photogravure-style reproductions of Old Master paintings in national and royal collections. Sheets of this kind were sold singly and in portfolios for framing and for study, and survive today as attractive period pieces in their own right.

Condition
Pre-owned in Good condition for its age. The printed image is clean and well contrasted, with no tears, creases or losses through the picture area. The paper has mellowed to a warm cream with age. There is a small brown stain roughly the size of a pea in the lower left margin, just outside the image, together with a tiny reddish speck nearby. A few further small foxing spots are present along one margin edge and on the blank reverse. The corners and edges are intact with only very light handling wear, and the sheet lies flat. There are no mount burns, tape residue or pin holes visible. Supplied loose and unframed, as a single sheet. Please review all of the photographs closely, as they show the actual item you will receive and form part of this description.

Who it's for
One for lovers of Venice and of Canaletto, collectors of early twentieth century art publishers' prints and Old Master reproductions, and anyone building a Grand Tour or Italianate picture wall. It also appeals to framers and interior decorators after an authentic period print with genuine age and character, and makes an affordable gift for anyone with a soft spot for the Salute and the Venetian lagoon.

Estimated Date
Circa 1900-1935, most likely 1920s. The evidence is the printed "Copyright The Fine Arts Publishing Co Ltd" credit line, the flowing copperplate caption style and the paper stock and monochrome reproduction process, all typical of British art publishers' plates of that period. No printed date appears anywhere on the sheet, so the dating is by style and publisher rather than by any stated year.

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