Canaletto’s Pleasure Gardens:

Polite Society, Hidden Scandal

About the
Exhibition

Canaletto’s Pleasure Gardens: Polite Society, Hidden Scandal will explore the significance and context of two of Compton Verney’s best loved paintings: Canaletto’s The Grand Walk, Vauxhall Gardens, c. 1751 and The Interior of the Rotunda, Ranelagh Gardens, c. 1751. 

For the first time, this exhibition will place the idea of pleasure front and centre in the examination of Canaletto’s paintings. It will look at the artist’s role in shaping and responding to conceptions of polite and worldly pleasure in 18th century England – when gardens provided the setting for the refined delights of music and art but also illicit activities, concealed by shadowed walks and secluded corners.