Queen’s House, Greenwich
A Curator-Led Visit & Demonstration of Canaletto’s Use of the Camera Obscura
with
Professor Philip Steadman
Architect and Author of Canaletto’s Camera
Dr Allison Goodie
Curator
Dr Maya Wassell Smith
Assistant Curator
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Visit and tea: 2-4.30pm
Tickets £60
Places limited (20 guests only)
At Queen’s House
Greenwich
London SE10 9NF
A joint event with British Italian Society
Step inside England’s first Classical building, designed by Inigo Jones and inspired by the Reniassance architecture of the Veneto and Andrea Palladio, for a fascinating afternoon at the Queens’ House concluding with tea on the balcony. Small groups will be led by a team of curators and scholars to explore the house and some of the highlights of its collection, followed by a demonstration on how Canaletto may have used the camera obscura to achive the remarkable precision of his celebrated views of London and Venice.
Curator-led talks, 2-3.15pm
Guests will be divided into three small groups for a series of 20-minute talks by experts, rotating through some of the house’s finest rooms.
The talks will include Dr Allison Goudie discussing Susanna and the Elders by Artemisia Gentileschi and the Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I. Professor Philip Steadman will explore Canaletto’s Greenwich Hospital from the North Bank of the Thames and the artist’s use of the camera obscura. Dr Maya Wassell Smith will examine the architecture of the Queen’s House: Inigo Jones, J MW Turner and beyond.
Afternoon Tea & Cake, 3.15-4pm
Following the talks, guests will enjoy a picturesque afternoon tea with cake, served on Inigo Jones’s loggia with spectacular views across the park.
Demonstration of the camera obscura, and free exploration of the Queen’s House, 4-5pm
Professor Philip Steadman will demonstrate how the camera obscura works, with guests invited to try it for themselves. The Queen’s House will remain open until 5pm, allowing guests to re-visit at their leisure.
Professor Philip Steadman
Emeritus Professor of Urban and Built Form Studies at University College London. He trained as an architect and has taught at Cambridge University and the Open University. In the 1960s he edited and published Form, a quarterly magazine of the arts, and co-authored a book on kinetic art. He helped to produce four computer-animated films on the work of Leonardo da Vinci for an exhibition in London in 1989. In 2001 he published Vermeer’s Camera (Oxford University Press), on the Dutch painter’s use of the camera obscura. His latest book, Canaletto’s Camera (UCL Press), published in 2025, is a kind of sequel.
Dr Allison Goudie
Curator of Art Pre-1750 at Royal Museums Greenwich. Prior to this, she worked as a curator at the National Gallery, London, the National Trust and Kenwood House. She completed her PhD at Oxford in 2014 on portraits of Maria Carolina, Queen of Naples, and held, among other research fellowships, a Rome Award at the British School at Rome.
Dr Maya Wassell Smith
Assistant Curator of Art at Royal Museums Greenwich, working primarily with the Decorative Arts. She has previously held positions at Newham Borough Collections, SS Great Britain Museum, and Leeds Museum and Art Galleries. She completed her PhD in 2026 on sailors’ craftwork in the long nineteenth century.
This event is in aid of the Acqua Granda Appeal, commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the devastating 1966 floods in Venice.
A joint event with the British Italian Society
