Francesco Albotto

Lord Clifden;
With Koetser Galleries, London, until 1951;
By whom sold to the present owners and thence by descent in the family.

A. Graves, Art sales from early in the eighteenth century to early in the twentieth century : (mostly old master and early English pictures), London 1918-21, vol. II, p. 201 (as by Michele Marieschi).

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 is quite dirty yet in lovely condition. The canvas has an old lining which is stabilizing the surface yet not robbing the picture of any of its texture. The surface, apart from being extremely dirty, is in beautiful condition and will clean to reveal a very fresh and lively paint layer. There appear to be no restorations and none are visible under ultraviolet light because of the old dirt layer. However, this picture is clearly in beautiful 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."

This wonderfully preserved work is by Michele Marieschi's only known pupil, and the greatest imitator of his style, Francesco Albotto. When Marieschi died in 1743 at the age of thirty-two, Albotto literally stepped into his master's shoes: he inherited his workshop in the San Luca district and even married Marieschi's widow Angela Fontana in October of the following year. The extremely close stylistic relationship between the artists has inevitably led to recent debate as to the correct authorship of the present picture. Ralph Toledano, in private correspondence dated 27 April 2010, fully attributes the work to Micehele Marieschi based on photographs, and in fact this picture was sold by David Koetser in 1951 as by Marieschi. Only recently, have others suggested that it may in fact be a work from the hand of Albotto.

Based on stylistic evidence, this painting appears to date to a relatively early phase in Albotto's artistic career, at a time when his stye was close to that of Marieschi, not only in his choice of composition but also in his painting technique. The view is taken from the Bacino di San Marco and follows a similar viewpoint adopted by Marieschi for a number of his own paintings.  Albotto's own painted replicas, in which the staffage differs every time, all demonstrate the artist's ability to emulate Marieschi's painting technique, particularly in the depiction of water and of the wall surface of the Palazza Ducale.² When talking about Marieschi in his Abecedario, Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694-1774) remarked that Albotto liked to be called 'the second Marieschi', suggesting that he actively sought to promote his position as Marieschi's successor.³  Indeed Albotto must have enjoyed his temporary position as the principal vedutista in Venice during the later 1740s and '50s, helped in great part by Marieschi's untimely death and Canaletto's departure for England in 1746. It is quite possible that if Albotto himself had not died prematurely at the age of thirty-five, his reputation might have been more long-lasting. By the sixth decade of the 18th century, Albotto was certainly operating as an independent artist, for between 1750 and 1756 an artist called Francesco Alboro - almost certainly to be identified with Francesco Albotto - is recorded in the Fraglia (the list of Venetian painters registered at the Accademia).⁴

 

1.  See for example, R. Toledano, Michele Marieschi, Milan 1995, pp. 40-1, cat. nos. V.1.a-V.1.d, all reproduced.
2.  For three other variants by Albotto see Toledano, op. cit., pp. 28-29.
3.  Mariette wrote : "Il se fit nommer 'il secondo Marieschi', et il en a épousé la veuve... Son véritable nom était François Albotto"; cited by T. Pignatti, in Bollettino dei Musei Civici Veneziani, 1965, no. 3, p. 19.
4.  Moschini's manuscript, in which 'Albotto' was probably mis-transcribed as 'Alboro', is held at the Biblioteca del Museo Correr, Venice, sec. XIX, f. 32; cited by Manzelli, under Literature, 1991, p. 20, footnote 1.