Gaspar van Wittel, called Vanvitelli Amersfoort 1652/3 - 1736 Rome

Graf Otto von Almeida (1881-1956), Schloß Mondsee, Austria, from which sold prior to 1996;
Acquired by the present owner shortly afterwards.

This painting shows a partial view of the Colosseum, the largest surviving building of ancient Rome and arguably the most popular tourist attraction for Grand Tourists visiting the Eternal City in the early 18th Century. The view is taken from the Meta Sudans, the ancient fountain of Titus (A.D. 79-81) restored under Domitian (A.D. 81-96) which stood in front of the Arch of Constantine until its destruction in 1936. Vanvitelli’s theatrical representation of this well-known site is highly unusual: the Colosseum is boldly positioned, its high wall slicing the composition in half. This view was chosen by Vanvitelli for a specific reason: it reveals a cross-section of the ruined building itself, allowing us to see more clearly the triple-arched structure of the Colosseum’s amphitheatre. The theatricality of the representation is further heightened by his populating the “set” with a carriage and gesturing figures, such as those standing atop the monument (as tourists were accustomed to do in those days). This representation must have found favour among Vanvitelli’s clientele for he painted and drew the site on a number of occasions, though none are conceived on such a grand scale. Each variant has notable differences in the staffage and background and this is by far the largest rendition of the subject. Three gouaches, one of them signed and dated 1716, are known: one is in the Busiri Vici collection, Rome, and the other two are in private collections (see G. Briganti, Gaspar van Wittel, ed. L. Laureati & L. Trezzani, Milan 1996, pp.156-7, cat. nos. 64 and 66, both reproduced (one in colour), and L. Laureati, in L. Laureati & L. Trezzani, Gsapare Vanvitelli e le origini del vedutismo, exh. cat., Rome, Chiostro del Bramante, 26 October 2002 - 2 February 2003, p. 107, cat. no. 17, reproduced in colour with bled detail). Three other painted variants are known, none of which are dated: one, signed with initials, is in a private collection, London; another, also signed, is in a private collection; and a third, of squarer format, is in the Brachetti Peretti collection, Rome (Briganti, op. cit., pp. 157-8, cat. nos. 65, 68 and 69, all reproduced). Since none of the painted variants are dated it is difficult to establish a chronology but the present canvas is probably a late work, datable for stylistic reasons to the first decade of the 18th Century.

A preparatory drawing for the central section of this composition, in pen, ink and wash, is in the Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele in Rome (Briganti, ibid., pp. 395-6, cat. no. D311, reproduced). The drawing, which is squared for transfer, is on a sheet measuring 347 by 405 mm. and may have been produced for Brachetti Peretti’s version of similar format, though it was almost certainly used as a basis for all other variants.

This painting was once in the collection of Graf Otto von Almeida (1881-1956) at Schloß Mondsee. The Schloß, located close to Salzburg in the northern part of Austria, was given to Field Marshal Karl Philip von Wrede in 1810 and thence passed by inheritance to Princess Helene von Wrede, wife of Graf Carl von Almeida and mother of Otto. On 30 November 1907 Otto married Gräfin Marie-Sophie von Arco-Zinneberg (1882-1965), by whom he had three children, and the Von Almeida family continued to live in the Schloß until 1985, whereupon it was sold. Today it is a hotel and conference centre.