There were no giant cruise ships in 18th-century Venice. No Disney store by the Rialto, no Biennale. Instead, a handful of aristocrats, off on their grand tour, took leisurely gondola trips on quiet canals. And instead of taking home a mask and a bottle of grappa, they got a painter called Canaletto to do them a few views.
One visitor, Lord John Russell, commissioned no fewer than 24 such souvenirs and they are on view at the National Maritime Museum while their usual home, Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, is being restored. They are undeniably gorgeous. But the museum tries to hang too large a narrative arc on what is basically a nice chance to see some stately home treasures. No, they insist – this is a chilling insight into the peril facing Venice today, when flooding caused by the climate crisis and egregious levels of mass tourism threaten to destroy this precious human ecosystem. The show ends with a salutary video of the city’s recent floods and a powerful interactive tool that lets you see, from year to year, how the worst flooding in Venice’s history has hit in just the last few years. There used to be many years with no floods at all.
