Gardens of Versailles
Grand Canal
With a length of 1,500 metres and a width of 62 metres, the "Grand Canal", which was built between 1668 and 1671, physically and visually prolongs the east-west axis to the walls of the "Grand Parc". During the "Ancien Régime", the "Grand Canal" served as a venue for boating parties. In 1674, as a result of a series of diplomatic arrangements that benefited Louis XIV, the king ordered the construction of "Petite Venise" – Little Venice. Located at the junction of the "Grand Canal" and the junction of the northern transversal branch, Little Venice housed the caravels and yachts that were received from The Netherlands and the gondolas and gondoliers received as gifts from the Doge of Venice, hence the name (Marie 1968; Nolhac 1901, 1925; Thompson 2006; Verlet 1985).
Le Grand Canal
This painting was undertaken on Monet's trip to Venice in the autumn of 1908, when the artist responded to an invitation from the American woman Mary Young Hunter, to visit her at the Palazzo Barbaro, in Venice. Monet was 68 years old this year. Hunter was a friend of Monet's wife, Alice, who invited the couple to come to visit her in Venice, where she rented this palazzo. Initially Monet was not keen but he did decide to travel. Monet and his wife arrived in Italy on October 1.