Claude-Joseph Vernet

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The original canvas is lined. The varnish is discoloured and degraded and beneath it can be seen the paint surface which is in very good condition."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

In the spring of 1778 the Marquis de Marigny, brother of Madame de Pompadour, persuaded Vernet, aged 64, to leave his studio in the Louvre and to travel to Switzerland with him and his son Carle Vernet. The journey was to last only six weeks and works such as this, which is clearly inspired by the artist's sojourn in the Alps and is perhaps based on a drawing made there, are extremely rare.

Marigny first met Vernet when undertaking his Grand Tour of Italy in 1750-51, when he visited the artist's studio in Rome. Marigny was appointed the Directeur Général des Bâtiments on his recall from Italy (a position he was to hold for the next twenty-two years), and was soon to prove himself Vernet's most important patron. Indeed it was mainly due to Marigny's influence that Vernet was awarded the most important commission of his career (and one of the most illustrious commissions of the entire reign of Louis XV); to paint the Ports de France.