Michele Marieschi

With P. & D. Colnaghi & Obach, London, 1920 (according to a Witt Library mount);
Probably acquired there by the grandfather of the present owner;
Thence by descent.

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has a fairly old lining and stretcher, with a strip of retouching along the top (about 1 centimetre wide), and slight scuffing along the base edge. The varnish is older than the upper strip and quite darkened. Beneath this aged varnish there appears to be old slight strengthening up the upper right edge in the sky from above the roof of San Giorgio, although this could have been largely cosmetic. However essentially the painting looks in exceptionally good, perfectly intact condition. The fine detail in the rigging and the architecture looks beautifully untouched, and the paint surface throughout seems to have benefitted from peaceful neglect. 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."

This recently discovered painting by Marieschi shows the church and island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, with the Bacino di San Marco beyond, and a distant view of the Piazzetta, the Molo and their landmark buildings; the Campanile, Palazzo Ducale and Ponte dei Sospiri ('Bridge of Sighs'). This particular view appears to be unique to Marieschi: it was not painted by any vedutista prior or contemporary to him, and is a view which Marieschi returned to on a number of occasions. It was also engraved by the artist as part of his Magnificentiores Selectioresque Urbis Venetiarum Prospectus of 1741; a date that provides a terminus ante quem for the design (see fig. 1).¹  In this painting, as in the other variants, Marieschi has intentionally exaggerated the distance between San Giorgio and the Molo, thus creating a greater sense of depth in the picture. The viewpoint is rather high, as it is in the engraving and other painted variants, and the composition has been carefully constructed to draw a contrast between the monumental Palladian structure of San Giorgio in the right foreground and the atmospheric expanse of water in the left half of the painting. The quay in front of San Giorgio recedes along a sharp diagonal drawing us towards the centre of the picture, its perspectival vanishing point being the tip of the Campanile. This landmark, amongst the most instantly recognisable in Venice, is the focal point of the composition despite its relatively small dimensions in relation to the overall picture space. The Campanile rises in the distance, all the more obvious for the open sky that surrounds it, and our eye is led there across the vast Bacino, through the imposing shipping vessels that are moored by the island of San Giorgio. The result is a strikingly modern and unusual view of the Venetian lagoon; a familiar destination for all Grand Tourists travelling to Italy in the 18th century.

Of the known versions of this composition the present painting appears to be the most imposing of all: it is of the highest quality and it constitutes the largest, being higher and wider than the other versions by at least 10 cm. in both directions.²  The sheer number of variants of this composition - each of them slightly different in the details of boats and staffage but essentially taken from the same viewpoint - demonstrates the popularity of the composition and the demand for it amongst Marieschi's clientele. The autograph variants published by Toledano in his 1995 monograph include: the painting sold, London, Phillips, 3 July 1990, lot 75; a second sold, London, Sotheby's, 2 July 1986, lot 125 (as Jacopo Marieschi); a third at Schloß Charlottenburg, Berlin (considered by Manzelli to be by Albotto); and a fourth sold, London, Christie's, 24 November 1967, lot 23, later with Bruno Meissner, Zurich (also considered by Manzelli to be by Albotto). The last of these comes closest to the painting being presented here in terms of positioning of the boats, both for the large shipping vessels and the smaller gondolas moored along the quay in the foreground. Both paintings, in turn, follow Marieschi's engraving quite closely though the view through the boats to the Piazzetta beyond is wider here than in any other examples (including the engraving), making the panoramic sweep of the lefthand part of the composition all the more dramatic.

The extraordinarily good condition of this painting allows us to admire the painting technique that distinguished Marieschi from other vedutisti: the wide-angled panoramic view is enveloped in atmospheric light; the huge expanse of water is punctuated by gentle waves, the crests of which are painted with a swift touch of the brush; and the impasto on the façade of the church of San Giorgio and on the paving in front successfully conveys the effect of dappled sunlight on marble and stone. It is unclear what time of day it is, whether it is sunny or cloudy, but the figures on land and water go about their daily business with Marieschi - and, by extension, us - observing. The painting presented here is the only variant in which figures in oriental dress appear and the figures, probably not all but certainly the group in the immediate right foreground, are by the battle-painter Francesco Simonini (1686-after 1753). The identity of the artist (or artists) who painted the figures or 'macchiette' in Marieschi's views has been the subject of much debate.³  Scholars are now generally agreed that Marieschi did not execute the figures in all of his paintings himself: Marieschi's own figures are recognisably elongated and rather more 'wooden', as described by Morassi (see the previous lot in this sale). Indeed it was Antonio Morassi who proposed Gian Antonio Guardi, Giambattista Tiepolo and Francesco Simonini as Marieschi's collaborators; an opinion not unanimously shared by other scholars (G.M. Pilo, for example, concluded that Marieschi painted the figures himself in imitation of the artists mentioned above). Toledano identifies a number of specific works in which the hands of Gian Antonio Guardi, Gaspare Diziani and Francesco Fontebasso are recognisable. As for Francesco Simonini, Toledano names but three capricci in which Simonini is supposed to have provided the figures. Given that Simonini's figure-type is highly distinctive and seems entirely consistent with the personages in the foreground here, this painting constitutes an important addition to the small group of the two artists' collaborative works. Marieschi and Simonini could have met through Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg and their collaboration must date from between 1740 and 1745, when Simonini is listed in the Fraglia dei Pittori in Venice. A dating of circa 1740 seems plausible both on stylistic grounds, if one compares other works of the period by Marieschi, as well as making sense if one considers that Marieschi's engraving of this view dates from the following year.

We are grateful to Mr. Ralph Toledano for endorsing an attribution to Michele Marieschi and Francesco Simonini, on the basis of photographs.

1.  For the engraving see D. Succi, Michiel Marieschi. Catalogo Ragionato dell'Opera Incisa, Turin 1987, pp. 56-7, cat. no. 6, reproduced (with detail). Examples are in a private collection and in the Museo Correr, Venice.
2.  All other versions measure 53.5-58 by 70.5-86 cm. For the autograph variants see R. Toledano, Michele Marieschi. Milan 1995, pp. 94-95, cat. nos. V.28a-d, all reproduced (the first and last in colour). For the two paintings considered by Manzelli to be by Albotto see M. Manzelli, Michele Marieschi e il suo alter-ego, Venice 1991, p. 81, cat. nos. A.15.1 and A.15.2, both reproduced. Further versions, with studio assistance, were sold, London, Christie's, 21 April 2004, lot 102, and New York, Sotheby's, 30 May 1991, lot 63.
3.  See Toledano, in op. cit., pp. 18-23.