Prà della Valle in Padua

Made between 1741 and 1746, the painting depicts the square of Pra’ della Valle in Padua, before the renovations carried out in 1775-1776 altered its features. Therefore, the canvas is also a valuable record of Padua’s urban history. Many figures populate the vast open space, yet without animating it. What makes the square vibrate is not the movement of the people, but the luminosity that pervades it, the density of the shadows contrasting with the brightness of the lights; it is the sky with its gradual lightening from left to right, that accentuates the horizontal format of the canvas. The buildings at the sides of the painting delineate the extent of the square, which is covered by grass and characterized by the basilica of Santa Giustina, on the left, and the University College, on the right.
The painting is an excellent example of Venetian vedutismo, a genre that saw in Canaletto one of its masters. The artist was particularly interested in the representation of reality, and to this end he used an instrument he himself had developed: the “camera obscura”. Consisting of a box, it was placed in front of the view of which, through refracting mirrors and convex lenses, it projected the image on a much smaller scale onto a sheet of paper. The artist could thus make preparatory studies on the spot and later, in his studio, paint or etch these views. As the two etchings datable to the same years of the canvas, with Saint Giustina in Pra’ della Valle (inv. 5819) e il Pra’ della Valle (inv. 5820), donated to the Museum in 2015.