Samuel Prout, O.W.S.

Sir Charles Hilton Seely, 2^nd Bt. (1859-1926);

with Agnew's, London;

sale, Salisbury, Woolley & Wallis, 7 December 2011, lot 184,

where acquired by the uncle of the present owner

Soon after the end of the Napoleonic wars, Prout - who had been exhibiting at the Royal Academy since 1803 and had been a member of London's Old Water-Colour Society since 1811, began to make regular visits to France, Belgium, the Rhine and Bavaria and Italy. He first visited Venice in 1824 and later Ruskin, a great supporter, would write that 'since Gentile Bellini, no one had regarded the palaces of Venice with so affectionate an understanding of the purpose and expression of their wealth of detail.'¹

Prout exhibited another version of the present watercolour at the Royal Academy's exhibition of 1826. That watercolour was slightly smaller than the present lot and sees Prout arranging the Venetian crowds in a different manner.¹

1. J. Ruskin, The Complete Works of John Ruskin, vol. XXVII, London 1885, p. 154
2. Sold in these rooms 29 November 2000, lot 94, £24,000