National Gallery, London
Five huge views of a fortress in Saxony by Canaletto’s nephew demonstrate the younger Venetian’s mastery of landscape, but the characters who populate his paintings steal this fascinating show
The fortress rears up on its crag against a high northern sky, sunlight glinting on the white walls of the buildings and the horns of a ram in the valley below. It is summer in Saxony; the landscape feels luxuriously mellow. But there is something sinister in the crag’s harsh side. Look closely and the entrance to an underground dungeon is visible, almost at the picture’s centre: an open hole like a dark, watching eye.
Now the viewpoint shifts, and the fortress of Königstein appears in another painting seen from the north, altogether darker and more imperious. The splendour falls on castle walls, as in some proto-Romantic ballad. Down below, a herder leans wearily against his cattle as shadowy figures disappear at dusk. A carriage turns a corner into utter darkness.