Canaletto turned to engraving at the height of his career, when his paintings had been commissioned by Stefano Conti of Lucca, by Owen McSwiney for several English noblemen, and most notably by the collector and Consul of Venice, Joseph Smith, to whom the Vedute is dedicated, and who may well have commissioned the work. Although the date of publication is uncertain, the etchings were clearly published after June 6, 1744, the day Smith was appointed Consul to Venice. As Bromberg observes, etching was extraordinarily well suited to Canaletto's painterly style, and the pains he bestowed on the plates is evident from his frequent use of re-biting. Whereas his paintings characteristically portrayed the grand buildings of Venice, in the etchings Canaletto expressed his love of the Venetian countryside with its humble buildings and poor inhabitants