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Above: Canaletto, Venice: The Central Stretch of the Grand Canal, c1734Below right: Marco Ricci, Caprice View with Roman Ruins, c1729Images: Royal Collection Trust/ © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017.in a small palazzo on the Grand Canal near the church Santi Apostoli to the north of the Rialto bridge and he had a house at Mogliano near Treviso as a country retreat. In both he displayed his growing collection of paintings, drawings, prints and books. British interests in the Republic of Venice were the responsibility of both a Resident, who performed political and ceremonial duties, and a Consul, who looked after British maritime, commercial and trading interests. Smith made several attempts to be appointed Resident, but had to settle with the Consulship, which he held from 1744 to 1760 and again briefl y in 1766.In the early 1730s, Smith was involved in setting up a printing and publishing fi rm, the Pasquali press, which became an important centre for Venetian publishing and scholarship. Venetian society was strictly regulated by the State; Venetian noblemen, subject to strict protocols, were offi cially barred from contact with foreign ambassadors. Imports, including books, were closely controlled, as were books that Venetian presses were allowed to publish. The Pasquali press, its associated bookshop, Felicità delle Lettere, and Smith’s palazzo became important meeting places for scholars and critics interested in the ideas of the offi cially banned writers such as Voltaire, or scientists such as Isaac Newton. Smith built up a network of scholars of the Enlightenment and collectors who shared his interests in science, architecture, history, the classical world and the theatre. The gentry, connoisseurs and artists who visited his residences to see his collections included Horace Walpole, Richard Wilson, Joshua Reynolds and Robert Adam. Despite their comments, Smith remains a shadowy fi gure. No record of his likeness has been found even though he knew the greatest portraitist of the day, Rosalba Carriera. (With 38 works he had the best collection in Venice of her work, including her personifi cation of Winter, which Smith jealously guarded from rival collectors.) She gave him her own self-portrait, but it seems he did not commission his own from her. He was not much liked by his fellow British: Horace Walpole scornfully called him “the Merchant of Venice”; Lady Mary Wortley Montagu criticised his self-congratulation and James Adam exploded with “As to Smith’s fl ummery ‘tis all good for nothing with him – mere words of course, that have not meaning except when he has some favour to ask”. Smith was a passionate opera lover and in about 1717 married the English opera singer Catherine Tofts, who had retired to Venice in 1711 to escape creditors. Smith may have met Sebastiano Ricci and his nephew Marco through Tofts (who knew them in London) and in the 1720s became a major patron of their work. Sebastiano was regarded as the fi nest artist in Venice, painting mythological and religious subjects in the style of Veronese. Smith’s most important commission was a set of seven large paintings of the New Testament for a room in his palazzo. Smith also knew and supported Francesco Zuccarelli, acquiring a large number of his paintings and drawings including a set of six large canvases QUEEN’S GALLERY www.nadfas.org.uk NADFAS REVIEW / SPRING 2017 41