Giovanni Antonio Canal: The Master of Venetian Light Born in Venice in 1697 as Giovanni Antonio Canal, later known simply as Canaletto, was a pivotal figure in the history of art, renowned for his exquisitely detailed and evocative depictions of cityscapes – *vedute* – that capture the essence of 18th-century Venice, Rome, and London. More than just a painter of views, Canaletto possessed an extraordinary ability to translate light, a…