Gabriele Bella

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. The canvas is lined and the paint layer is stable. The retouches have been applied well and the picture should be hung in its current state. At some point in the painting's history, some dampness most likely allowed the paint layer to become unstable and the lining has addressed this. The retouching is focused to not only address numerous paint losses in the both the sky and the foreground, but also some slight abrasion, in the sky particularly. There is weakness and flatness to some of the impasto and the black colors and the very darker colors are slightly thin. However, there is a general healthy feel to the picture and given its period and scale, the condition is reasonable and the picture looks well 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."

Bella is most famous for the impressive series of canvasses of Venetian festivals and ceremonies exhibited today in the Palazzo Querini-Stampalia, Venice.  The present painting, which was likely commissioned by a local patron who may well have participated in this stately event, relates to a small genre of historical "reception" paintings which depict the arrival of various envoys or personnages of note to the serenissima.  Luca Carlevaris, one of the earliest of the  true Venetian vedutisti, for example, painted a view of the arrival in 1707 of the Earl (later Duke) of Manchester as British ambassador to Venice, now in the City Art Gallery, Birmingham, as well as a similar picture of the arrival in 1714 of the Conde de Colloredo, the Imperial Ambassador, now in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden.  Canaletto also painted a handful of masterpieces in this genre, and the present work most closely relates to Canaletto's Reception of the Imperial Ambassador, Count Giuseppe di Bolgano, at the Doge's Palace, now the Aldo Crespi Collection, Milan.  

We are grateful to Charles Beddington, who, based on firsthand inspection, has attributed this painting to Gabriele Bella.