Celebrating Britain Canaletto Hogarth And Patriotism Canaletto, Hogarth and Patriotism - Collectif - Paul Holberton - cartonné - Beau livre

By 1750 Britain was - as author Jacqueline Riding shows - at peace with her traditional enemy, France, and had finally extinguished the threat from the Catholic Jacobites. The art of William Hogarth - particularly his great canvas O The Roast Beef of Old England of 1749 - duly reflected this new sense of security and pride in being British. The economy was booming. Trade was expanding. And newly-confident Britons were no longer looking to Italy or France for their cultural exemplars, particularly in the field of architectural design. It was the ferment of activity, the eclectic building boom which underlines Britain's wealth and optimism, and which marks the nation out as the new Venice, which is the real subject of Canaletto's great canvases. Almost all of Canaletto's views focused on a new architectural commission or a recent urban development, and were specifically designed to celebrate the latest achievements of British architecture and engineering. The Italian master was not alone