Recto: A drawing of an invented view, known as a capriccio. The drawing shows ruins of a church and an arch, and a sculpture of the Madonna and child. Beyond is the lagoon.

Verso: Architectural sketches.

To the left is the ruined arcade of a Renaissance church, the brick arches still faced with a few marble blocks and pilasters. A sculpture of the Madonna and Child stands to the left; in the foreground a peasant with his dog sits against a sarcophagus beyond which is another with a recumbent effigy. To the right is the canopy of a tomb, and in the distance is the lagoon and the edge of a city, with buildings including the stump of a huge clocktower.

In the sky around the canopy can be seen extensive pencil construction lines of unrelated architectural forms. On the reverse of the sheet are more such constructions, difficult to understand and possibly 'ruled doodles' by Canaletto rather than the underdrawing of an abandoned composition.

Catalogue entry adapted from Canaletto in Venice, London, 2005