Canaletto (1697–1768) Italy

Canaletto, whose real name is Giovanni Antonio Canalvar, was an Italian painter. He was born into a family of artists and began his career as a decorative painter. His paintings are extremely detailed and true to life. He used the camera obscura technique, a type of primitive camera that can project an image. The city of Venice was often the setting of his paintings. In 2005 his painting “View of the Grand Canal from Palazzo Balbi to the Rialto” was sold at Sotheby's for SEK 205 million.