Antonio Visentini trained under the Venetian history painter Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, but then specialised in Venetian vedute. He also worked as an architect for the English consul Joseph Smith. Visentini became known primarily as an engraver in the style of Canaletto. On commission from Smith, two series of prints engraved by Visentini were produced after Canaletto's Venice vedute: 'Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum ...' from 1735 and the expanded version 'Urbis Venetiarum Prospectus Celebriores' from 1742. Visentini also produced four engravings with views of the Piazza San Marco and the Piazzetta after paintings by Canaletto (1744).
