Giuseppe Canella came from a family of artists and assisted his father with stage sets and frescoes from a young age. Canella specialised in landscapes and vedute. From 1811 to 1815, he worked in Mantua, then as a marine painter in Venice. Canella only stayed in Milan for a short time in 1819, but his urban views of the city are important historical documents of quarters which were destroyed later. In 1820, Canella travelled through Spain for several months. In 1823, he stayed in Paris and sold his paintings to the future King Louis Philippe, for instance, who enabled him to spend half a year studying nature in Fontainebleau. In the 1830s, Canella continued to travel Europe, painting landscapes in Alsace, Normandy, Holland and southern (Germany) as well as vedute of Vienna, Berlin, Dresden, Budapest, Rome, Naples and other cities. Canella died in Florence in 1847 and was buried in a grave of honour in the basilica of Santa Croce.