- 6
Rubens Santoro
Description
- Rubens Santoro
- The Grand Canal, Venice
- signed Rubens Santoro (lower left)
- oil on canvas
- 15 by 20 in.
- 38.5 by 50.5 cm
Provenance
Hare & Whitley, Scarborough
Private Collection, United Kingdom (before 1914)
Thence by descent (and sold: Sotheby's, London, June 14, 2005, lot 222, illustrated)
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."
Catalogue Note
Venice has always been a favourite site for artists inspired by its rich golden light, the vestiges of its great flowering of Renaissance art and architecture and its special status as Europe's gateway to the East.
The Canale Grande is the main canal in Venice, which intersects the centre of the city and is lined with many important and attractive buildings. Rubens Santoro painted this scene from the wooden Ponte dell' Accademia, which spans the Grand Canal near the Palazzo Barbaro, and featured in the novel by Henry James, The Wings of the Dove. The dome of the Santa Maria della Salute can be seen on the right, illuminated by the sunshine. The church commemorates a terrible plague, which ravaged Venice in 1630; the name signifies both health and salvation. Inside, there are altarpieces by Luca Giordano (1632-1705), Jacopo Tintoretto (1518-1594) and Titian (c.1487/90-1576). The long, low building to the left of the church is the Dogana, or customs-house, which stretches to the tip of the Dorsoduro.