Canaletto's painting "Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day" (1731–32) sold for £31.9 million ($43.9 million) at Christie's Old Masters evening sale in London, setting a new auction record for the Italian painter. The work, which once hung in the offices of Britain's first prime minister Robert Walpole, surpassed its presale estimate of £20 million and is the largest Canaletto composition to appear at market in two decades, noted for its exceptional preservation and execution during the artist's career peak.
The sale underscores sustained confidence in the Old Masters market, with Christie's highlighting the painting's rarity—having only come to auction twice before, in 1751 and 1999—and its historical provenance linking to a seminal British political figure. The result marks the second highest price ever achieved for an Old Master at Christie's London, trailing only Rubens's "Lot and His Daughters" in 2016, and reaffirms demand for works of exceptional quality and provenance.