From the walls of 10 Downing Street - the finest Canaletto still in private hands | Christie's

Join Dr James Fox, art historian and broadcaster, in conversation with Letizia Treves, Christie's Global Head of Research and Expertise, on Canaletto's "Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day" - formerly in the collection of Britain’s first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole.

It hung in 10 Downing Street in the first-floor parlour on the other side of the fireplace from its pendant work: Canaletto's Venice, The Grand Canal, Looking North-East from Palazzo Balbi to the Rialto Bridge. This work became the most expensive painting by the artist ever to appear at auction, when it was sold in 2005 — a record that still stands. Now, the present work is being offered at Christie’s in London on 1 July 2025, leading the Old Masters Evening Sale during Classic Week.

‘This is one of the most sublime works Canaletto ever painted,’ says Andrew Fletcher, global head of Christie’s Old Masters department. ‘It’s also, in my view, unquestionably the finest work by him in private hands.’