Lot 87
  • 87

Antonio Joli

Estimate
400,000 - 600,000 GBP
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Description

  • Antonio Joli
  • Florence, a view of the river Arno towards to the Ponte Santa Trinita and the Ponte Vecchio;Rome, a view of the tiber with the Castel Sant' Angelo and St. Peter's basilica
  • a pair, both oil on canvas

Provenance

Arthur H, Renshaw collection;
His deceased sale, London, Christie's, 1 July 1966, lots 14 and 15 respectively, the former to Leger Galleries for £1,800, the latter to Richard Green for £1,900;
Anonymous sale ("The Property of a Gentleman"), London, Bonham's, 8 July 1993, lot 145;
With Richard Green, London, from whom acquired by the present owner.

Literature

Connoisseur, June 1966, p. xciii (Christie's advertisement for the View of Florence);
Apollo, June 1966, p. xxi (Christie's advertisement for the View of Rome);
Burlington Magazine, December 1966, supplement, reproduced plate XXVI (View of Florence);
G. Bolaffi, Catalogo della pittura italiana del '600 e del '700, no. 1, Turin 1974, p. 108;
L. Salerno, I vedutisti, Rome 1991, f9, p. 247 (View of Florence);
M. Gregori & S. Blasio, Firenze nella Pittura e nel Disegno dal Trecento al Settecento, Milan 1994, p. 217, reproduced fig. 271.
R. Middione, Antonio Joli, Soncino 1995, p. 90, reproduced fig. 41 (View of Florence);
M. Manzelli, Antonio Joli. opera pittorica, Venice 1999, p. 91, cat. no. R9, reproduced fig. 58 (View of Rome; p. 119, cat. no. W9, reproduced fig. 100 (View of Florence);
R. Toledano, Antonio Joli, Turin 2006, p. 150, cat. no. R.VIII.4, reproduced (View of Rome; p. 272, cat. no. V.V.VI.2, reproduced (View of Florence).

Condition

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. These two paintings have strong recent linings, that have smoothed the surfaces, and recent restorations. View of the Arno, Florence. This painting is well preserved with crisp detail throughout of Florentine architecture, and to some extent life, at the time. The dark glazing used in the shadows of the boats had slightly too much medium or siccative and there is some early premature craquelure, which has been lightly retouched in these places, but the technique proved immaculate elsewhere throughout. The sky has a few scattered retouchings, using the pink ground, but these do not appear to be actual damages or tears, but perhaps thinner places. Overall although the sky was once richer the vision of eighteenth century Florence itself is finely preserved. View of the Tiber, Rome. The architecture in this painting is equally finely preserved, with very slight premature craquelure in the white of the statues on the bridge. The sentry box further across the bridge appears to have been moved as a second thought and the trees in the right corner may also be a pentiment reappearing, unless they are becoming more transparent with age and/or cleaning. There are many little retouchings down the extreme left edge, and a few muting craquelure in the sky, including a little horizontal near the dome of St. Peter's, where there are also a few tiny touches. Other scattered retouching in the sky appears to be over thinner places but there is one old vertical tear with surrounding damage (about four by six inches wide) in the upper right centre broadly retouched. Another tiny curving tear in the water at lower right, near a little vertical knock in the rudder of the boat on the right, are very minor incidents and the detailed view of Rome itself is in good condition. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"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."

Catalogue Note

This is one of only five views of Florence painted by Joli. Two of them, one at Beaulieu and the other formerly in the collection of the Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, depict the same view, namely from the north bank of the Arno looking across to the Ponte Santa Trinita, the Ponte Vecchio and, in the distance, the hilltop church of San Miniato.1 The Beaulieu version very closely follows an engraving made by Giuseppe Zocchi2 with only minor alterations. With this version however, Joli uses a little more artistic licence, extending the composition vertically and altering details of the architecture. The positioning of the boats and staffage, notably those in the foreground, is however clearly drawn from Zocchi's engraving, there being only minor changes to their details. Of Joli's other two Florentine views, one is taken from the opposite side of the Arno (Oltrarno) to the present lot and looks back over Ponte Santa Trinita and Ponte Vecchio towards the Palazzo Vecchio, while the other is taken from the other end of the city, also from the Oltrarno, looking back to the Palazzo Vecchio.3

 

The View of the Tiber with the Castel Sant' Angelo was one of Joli's most popular views and it exists in a number of variants. Manzelli lists twenty-two such views, all incorporating the Castel Sant'Angelo at the far right, St. Peter's basilica in the very centre, and the wall of the Tiber at the extreme left. Just beyond the Castel Sant'Angelo, on the same bank, is the church of S. Maria in Traspontina and to its left, along the riverbank, is the complex of the Ospedale di S. Spirito in Sassia, with campanile of its church, designed by Baccio Pontelli in 1471, just visible above it. With each of the twenty-two topographical views of the Rome from the Tiber listed by Manzelli Joli slightly alters the format, viewpoint and staffage, although in some cases only marginally. He delights in populating the city with merchants and citizens going about their daily business and it is these that lend each version its originality. Parallels between the staffage and boats in the present lot may be made with several other paintings, notably with the works sold in London, Christie's, 10 July 1981, lot 62, and London, Sotheby's, 8 December 1971, lot 32.4


1. Lord Montagu of Beaulieu collection, Palace House, Beaulieu; and formerly the Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, Burley on the Hill, sold London, Sotheby's, 9 December 1987, lot 28. See Toledano, under Literature, p. 270, no. V.V.VI.1, reproduced p. 271, and p. 273, no. V.V.VI.3, reproduced, respectively.  
2. See M. Gregori et al., under Literature, p. 216, reproduced fig. 215.
3. For the former see Manzelli, under Literature, p. 119, no. W.11, reproduced fig. 102; for the latter see Toledano, op. cit., p. 217, reproduced fig. 270.
4. Manzelli, op. cit., reproduced figs. 56 and 55 respectively.