On the left is San Marco; over the main portico are the four Roman bronze horses brought back from Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Beyond the two columns of the Piazzetta, surmounted by the lion of St Mark and San Teodoro, is the island of San Giorgio, with Palladio's church of San Giorgio Maggiore. The straight-sided pointed top of the campanile was replaced between June 1726 and 1728 with the onion shape seen here; this was rebuilt once more, with straight sides, in 1744.

On the right are the east end of the Procuratie Nuove and the Campanile, with the side of Sansovino's Loggetta at its base catching the sun. Canaletto has omitted Gai's gates to the Loggetta, which had been installed in 1742, although he included them in The Piazza from the Piazzetta with the Campanile and the south side of San Marco (RCIN 400516). At right angles and in steep recession is the Libreria. Canaletto has opened out the view and splayed out San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale so that they gradually diminish deep into space. He has enlarged San Giorgio and included its campanile, which in reality is out of view. Only the end window of the Palazzo Ducale would be visible from this viewpoint, rather than the five included here.

The Piazza and Piazzetta of San Marco were rare grand open spaces in Venice, where people met to trade or socialise, as well as where the great festivities and spectacles took place. Here we see the whole range of society, from foreign dignitaries and merchants wearing turbans, to government officials, clergy and the ordinary citizens of Venice plying their trade and going about their daily business.

Signed and dated lower left: Ant. Canal Fecit. MDCCXLIV.

Text adapted from Canaletto & the Art of Venice, 2017.