Canaletto Masterwork Restored

Following nearly one year of conservation treatment, an Italian masterwork discovered in the Denver Art Museum storage is on view. In November 2011, the DAM was awarded a grant from The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) Foundation to restore a painting in its collection that had recently been attributed to 18th century Venetian painter Giovanni Antonio Canal, called il Canaletto.

Since spring 2012, we have been writing updates about behind-the-scenes discoveries and decisions related to the restoration.

The painting, Venice: The Molo from the Bacino di S. Marco, was bequeathed to the DAM by Charles Edwin M. Stanton and accessioned into the collection in 2009. Prior to Mr. Stanton’s purchase of the work in London, the provenance of the painting is not known. It is not recorded in any catalogues as a work by Canaletto. Research led Canaletto scholar Charles Beddington to accept the work as an early work by the painter.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website