Canaletto learned painting in the workshop of his father Bernardo Canal, who produced stage sets for theatre performances. He became famous for his paintings of his hometown Venice as well as for Capricci. They are captivating because of their almost photo-realistic precision and richness of detail. To achieve this precision, he used a camera obscura as an aid. Antonio Canal is to be distinguished from his nephew Bernardo Bellotto, who worked in a very similar way and later also used the artist's name "Canaletto". Antonio Canal's works are altogether more light, mostly more cheerful and also brighter than those of his nephew. One of Canaletto's patrons and clients was the English consul in Venice Joseph Smith, who also commissioned Antonio Visentini in 1728 with the engravings for Canaletto's Venetian vedute under the title Venetiarum nobis Prospectus, thus ensuring the dissemination of the works among the English nobility travelling on the Grand Tour. The paintings were either acquired by the English nobles through Smith or ordered directly from England. Thus in 1731-1732 the 4th Duke of Bedford commissioned 24 paintings, which Antonio Canal executed from 1732 to 1736. This was followed by commissions from the 3rd Duke of Marlborough for a further 20 paintings, and in 1738 Henry Howard, 4th Earl of Carlisle, ordered 5 large-scale canvases.