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Above: Canaletto, The Grand Canal looking north-west from near the Rialto c1726-7.The fourth villa on the right belonged to Smith; a Palladian façade was painted in at a later dateThe Merchant of VeniceThe Royal Collection was transformed in the 1700s thanks to the efforts of Joseph Smith, the enigmatic British Consul in Venice, as a new exhibition demonstrates. Lucy Whitaker, Senior Curator of Paintings, Royal Collection Trust, tells his storyIn 1757, Robert Adam visited Joseph Smith, the English merchant, collector, dealer, patron and later British Consul in Venice and saw there “as pretty a collection of pictures as I have ever seen”. Three years later his brother, James Adam also met Consul Smith noting that Smith was “devilish poor & should he live a few years longer which he may do, he will die a Bankrupt … he has a fi ne collection which he ought to sell if vanity wou’d allow him, but he is literally eaten up with it”. From about 1700, Joseph Smith (c1674–1770) lived in Venice, where over several decades he built up an outstanding art collection acquiring important Old Master paintings and drawings, one being the Vermeer in the Royal Collection. He acted as patron and dealer to contemporary Venetian artists, many of whom he knew personally: Sebastiano and Marco Ricci, Rosalba Carriera, Giovanni Battista Piazzetta and Francesco Zuccarelli. But Smith is best known for his unoffi cial partnership with Canaletto, with the largest holdings of paintings, drawings and etchings by the artist. George III’s acquisition of Consul Smith’s collection in 1762 was his greatest purchase, an artistic coup, which transformed the Royal Collection. Many of these works will now be on display in a new exhibition that opens in May, Canaletto & The Art of Venice at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace.Joseph Smith was the junior partner to the banker Thomas Williams and in 1720 took over the business. As early as 1709 they were also engaged in art dealing, which Smith continued after Williams’ departure, purchasing manuscripts and books for English collectors and also for himself. By the 1720s, visitors to Venice wanted to see ‘Mr Smith and his fi ne library’. Smith lived 40 NADFAS REVIEW / SPRING 2017 www.nadfas.org.ukQUEEN’S GALLERY