View of St Mark's Square in Venice by Canaletto

There is a moment, just after dawn, when Venice holds its breath. The light glides low across the marble of the square, kindles the golden mosaics of the Basilica and lengthens the shadows of passers-by on the still-cool paving. It is this instant that Canaletto captured for ever.

Let yourself be drawn into the scene. The Campanile rises like a needle of stone towards a porcelain sky, up to the background where the domes of St Mark's shine like relics. And then there are the Venetians: ladies wrapped in cloaks, merchants beneath the arcades, children, a little white dog crossing the square. Tiny yet living figures, reminding you how human, and not merely monumental, the Serenissima is.

Feel history under your fingertips