What does Canaletto have to do with all this? Well, when he painted his famous views of his home city, Canaletto included the green line of algae around each building, which reflected just how high the flood levels reached during the high water or "aqua alta." The painter's passion for precision, evident from his use of a camera obscura during the preliminary stages of his paintings, has provided modern researchers with an accurate measurement of flooding in various Venetian locations during the mid-eighteenth century. These measurements may make it possible to ascertain Venice's "sustainable" level of flooding, and thus may help those who are working hard to find a way to save the city from the ever-rising waters of the Lagoon and the sinking pilings on which Venice is built.
The paintings also clarify just how much the waters have risen since Canaletto's day--an article on the web site of England's Guardian newspaper explains that "a 1767 painting of the Piazza San Marco shows algae 34cm lower than today." By analyzing the past, scientists may be able to predict future patterns much more accurately. The most recent severe flooding in Venice occurred in January 2001, and experts fear the possibility of another flood like the one that devastated much of Central and Northern Italy, including Florence and Venice, in 1966.
Canaletto certainly never realized the impact his work would have on his city, in scientific as well as cultural terms. He couldn't have known, either, that he would become the hero of a series of mystery novels! I just finished reading Canaletto and the Case of the Privy Garden, the second book in a series by mystery writer Janet Laurence, better known for her culinary writing and food-related mysteries. It was a nice bit of light reading, though I think I solved the mystery somewhat sooner than I was supposed to.
While I'm on the subject of Canaletto, I should provide links to some of his paintings. This site offers a nice selection of twelve paintings, in both thumbnail and full-screen versions. There are also lots of links to online images of his works at the Artcyclopedia web site. One other tidbit of interesting information: in spite of his reputation for accuracy, Canaletto created many "capriccio" paintings--completely imaginary views of Venice. This painting is a great example of the bizarre things Canaletto often did to his cityscape--here, he combines three landmarks from separate areas of the city into a single view. Another good collection of Canaletto paintings is available at the Web Gallery of Art--lots of thumbnails that you can enlarge and resize to your heart's content. You can even turn these pictures into email postcards! And don't forget to look for those amazing green lines of algae that just may save La Serenissima from sinking...
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