Canaletto – The Bucintoro in Front of the Doge’s Palace.

Well this was a special and rare find! A Vintage Ravensburger Puzzle that pre-dates reunification in Germany. This amazing puzzle dates back to 1973.

The quality is unmatched, the pieces were sturdy and had some more interesting shapes, compared to today’s Ravensburger puzzles (which to be clear, I love too!) They also had a glossy finish, which is not exactly the finish you’ll find today. It was just fabulous!

Now this painting, is definitely a more classical type of artwork than I would normally choose, but it was gorgeous! There’s just so much detail in this painting. The painter’s name was Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto, 1697-1768.

He was well known as a “Veduti” painter – which means that he painted views of towns and countrysides, depicting everyday life or festivities of the time.

The Golden barge or boat in front of the main Golden building in this painting, was called the Bucintoro, a state barge. On Ascension Day, the Doge of Venice would sail on it out to the Adriatic, to throw a ring into the water. This ceremony symbolized the marriage of Venice to the Adriatic.

I found this puzzle about 6 months ago at the thrift store, and calmly pulled it off the shelf, trying hard not to flip at the amazing find I just pulled off the shelf. I was waiting for a good time to assemble it, and when a fellow Instagrammer – Michelle – announced that September’s puzzle-along was going to be an art themed week, I knew exactly which puzzle I was going to do.

Admittedly, it took me a little while longer than the allotted week, I’m currently working every day of the week, and my time to puzzle is limited, but wow, oh wow, this was the perfect puzz for the week!

I started with the golden building and then, believe it or not, I completed the sky, then it was just the waters and the boats, which were tricky, but in the best way.

It is too bad that I was missing four pieces but this puzzle is 50 years old! Who knows how many times it’s been put together, and how many people have worked on it. She’s a beauty!

1500 pieces by Ravensburger, made in West Germany, missing 4 pieces and so so pretty.