Attributed to Vincenzo Chilone

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has been quite recently restored and could be hung as is. The canvas has been lined using glue as an adhesive. The paint layer has been cleaned, varnished and retouched. Under ultraviolet light there are a couple of spots of retouch clearly visible in the water in the lower center and on the left side near the white building and above that building. However, there is thinness throughout the paint layer which is visible to the naked eye and which may well have been retouched. These retouches, if they exist, are not visible under ultraviolet light and it is also possible that this thinness has essentially not been restored. Regardless, the picture should be hung as is.
"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."

The present painting appears to be based on an engraving by Antonio Visentini, after a painting by Canaletto of the same subject, now at Windsor Castle in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen.  The Visentini engravings of this and thirteen other views of Venice by Canaletto (all originally owned by Joseph Smith, the artist's patron, agent, and friend) were published in 1735, and would have been well-known to Venetian artists and their patrons in the second half of the 18th and 19th centuries.