Giovanni Antonio Canale (Canaletto): The Arsenal The Water Entrance 1732

Our plain-English summary of Giovanni Antonio Canale (Canaletto): The Arsenal The Water Entrance 1732, by M. McKiernan (Occupational Medicine, 2012).

The study

• Author: M. McKiernan
• Journal: Occupational Medicine
• Published: 2012;62(2):86-7
• Type of article: Historical article
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This was a short essay in the journal's "Art and Occupation" series, not a research study. The author described a 1732 oil painting by Canaletto of the water entrance to the Arsenale in Venice, which the article called the site of Venetian shipbuilding for over 600 years. The essay outlined the Arsenale's history. It said the Arsenale employed over 4000 workers, including gunmakers, oarmakers, mastmakers and sailmakers, before it closed in 1810. It also gave a short biography of the painter. Asbestos came up only in the closing paragraph, and only by citing other published sources. The author noted that shipbuilding in the Venice region has been associated with malignant mesotheliomas there, and that construction and textile work have also contributed. Citing UK government statistics, the author stated that UK mesothelioma deaths have risen from 153 to 2249 since 1968 and were expected to peak between 2016 (males) and 2026 (females). The author also noted that asbestos use continues despite calls for a worldwide ban. The essay collected no data of its own on asbestos exposure or disease.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Essay or commentary on a painting (journal series 'Art and Occupation'); not a research study and not a systematic review
• Who was studied: No study population. The essay discussed the historical workforce of the Venetian Arsenale, a shipbuilding site.
• Exposure: Asbestos was not studied directly. Shipbuilding in the Venice region was mentioned, citing another study, as associated with malignant mesotheliomas, with construction and textile work also contributing. No fiber types are named.

Related studies

• Historical background to the asbestos problem — D.H. Lee, I.J. Selikoff (1979)
• Airborne concentrations of asbestos onboard maritime shipping vessels (1978-1992) — D.M. Murbach, A.K. Madl, et al. (2008)
• Job tasks, potential exposures, and health risks of laborers employed in the construction industry — G. Burkhart, P.A. Schulte, et al. (1993)
• The silence: the asbestos industry and early occupational cancer research--a case study — D.E. Lilienfeld (1991)
• Mortality among North Carolina construction workers, 1988-1994 — E. Wang, J.M. Dement, et al. (1999)
• Asbestos: old foe in 21st century developing countries — L.V. Harris, I.A. Kahwa (2003)

Browse more research in Occupational Medicine, or return to medical research.