Italy is pitting uncle against nephew in a new exhibition in Turin re-examining the extraordinary talents of 18th-century Venetian landcape artists Canaletto and Bellotto.
Queen Elizabeth II of England has loaned works from her Royal Collection for the show at Palazzo Bricherasio, where around 100 paintings are on display from museums and private collections worldwide including the Hermitage in St Petersburg and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Although Canaletto (1697-1768) is traditionally thought of as the more talented of the pair, the show comes down in favour of his nephew and pupil Bernardo Bellotto (1721-1780), even re-attributing to the younger man some landscapes previously thought to have been Canalettos.
The two artists often painted the same views after Bellotto entered his uncle's studio in 1736, and for the first time similar paintings by the pair are displayed alongside each other for comparison, flanked by preparatory drawings.
Among the highlights in the exhibition are their two versions of a busy canal scene over the Ponte Rialto in Venice, both showing off the family trait of topographical accuracy but also illustrating the duo's individual styles.
While Canaletto focuses on architectural detail, light and perspective in his luminous landscapes, Bellotto's style is colder and more austere, with paintings often executed as if he had an aerial view of the scene before him.
Curator Bozena Anna Kowalczyk explained that confusion over which artist painted a work is partly due to the fact that Bellotto was quite keen to be mistaken for his more famous uncle, sometimes even signing himself 'Il Canaletto'.
Curators of the Royal Collection have allowed Kowalczyk to reassign some of its magnificent Canalettos to Bellotto, and she said representatives from the collection would soon fly to Turin to discuss the new attributions.
Alongside the Venice landscapes, the Italian section of the show also features paintings of Rome, Florence, Piedmont and Lombardy - most of which were sold to Englishmen and Germans on their Grand Tour of Europe since neither of the painters were much appreciated in their home town.
Both men eventually emigrated to be nearer to fans of their work.
In 1746 Canaletto moved to London, where he stayed until 1755, painting British landscapes.
Among the works from this period on show here is his Warwick Castle, with women in huge colourful dresses walking their dogs on the surrounding lawns.
In 1747 Bellotto moved to Dresden, and then made a successful living at the courts of dukes and nobles in Vienna, Munich and St Petersburg before ending his days in Warsaw.
Of the two, only Canaletto returned to Venice.
He was admitted to the city's Academy of Painting and Sculpture just five years before his death, by which time his paintings adorned the walls of palaces of nobles and royals in half of Europe.
Canaletto and Bellotto - The Art of the View runs at Palazzo Bricherasio in Turin until June 15.
