Conserving a Canaletto

Denver Art Museum staff are publishing a multi-part series on a long lost painting recently located in our collections.

Upon examination, an artwork turned out to be a very important painting by the Italian master, Canaletto. Venice: the Molo from the Bacino di San Marco has never been exhibited due to its condition and years hidden away in storage. Thanks to a generous grant from The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) Restoration Fund, the entire Canaletto masterwork is now undergoing conservation treatment. The conservation work is expected to span the remainder of 2012. After, the canvas and original frame will be exhibited for the first time for all to see at the DAM.

Follow the blog and be there with us every step of the way as we carefully X-ray examine, Q-Tip clean, and debate treatment options to ready this painting for its public debut.

Image credit: Giovanni Antonio Canal, called il Canaletto. Venice: The Molo from the Bacino di S. Marco, about 1724. Oil on canvas. Bequest of Charles Edwin M. Stanton, 2009.336.