William Callow, R.W.S.

Callow stands with his back to the Venetian lagoon looking northwest to the Piazza San Marco. To the east is the Doge’s Palace, a building Ruskin described as ‘the central building of the world,’ while to the west is the Libreria Sansoviniana, the state library designed by Jacopo Sansovino (1486-1570).¹ Bathed in late afternoon sunlight are the domes of San Marco's Basilica, the early Renaissance Clock Tower on the north façade of the square and - to the left - the upper section of the Campanile. Callow has populated this iconic view with a bustling crowd, reminiscent of Canaletto one hundred years before.

Venice for Callow was a very special place. He first visited the ‘floating city’ in the summer of 1840, then returned six years later while on honeymoon and continued to travel there regularly until 1892, when he was in his 80^th year.

This watercolour once belonged to Captain Roland Addy of Brierley Hall, Barnsley. He assembled an important collection of 18^th and 19^th century painting which included landscapes by Richard Wilson, J.M.W. Turner and David Roberts.   

1. J. Ruskin, The Stones of Venice, vol. I, London 1851, p. 17