- 7
Franz Richard Unterberger
Estimate
180,000 - 220,000 USD
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Description
- Franz Richard Unterberger
- Grand Canal, Venice
- signed F.R. Unterberger (lower right); signed and inscribed Venice on the reverse
- oil on canvas
- 23 7/8 by 39 3/8 in.
- 60.5 by 100.1 cm
Provenance
Private Collection, United States
Richard Green, London
Private Collection, The Netherlands
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, October 24, 2006, lot 5, illustrated
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Richard Green, London
Private Collection, The Netherlands
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, October 24, 2006, lot 5, illustrated
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Condition
The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.:
This painting is in excellent condition. It has recently been restored and should be hung in its current condition. There has been no lining to the canvas. The paint layer is clean, stable and unabraded. Under ultraviolet light, a few small retouches around the top of the campanile are visible. A few more small retouches in the sky above the gondolas and several isolated tiny retouches in the remainder of the sky, account for almost all the retouching in the entire picture including the architecture and foreground. The work should be hung in its current state.
"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 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
This spectacular panoramic view of Venice represents several major landmarks of the city which have inspired artists such as Canaletto (1697-1768) and Francesco Guardi (1712-1793), and many other artists working in the Vedute genre during Unterberger's lifetime (see lot 6). Reflected in the bright, dappled water of the Grand Canal, the Doge's Palace, the Piazza San Marco and the Campanile stand proudly, probably painted from Le Zitelle or San Giorgio Maggiore.
The Doge's Palace, which began to take its present form in the mid-fourteenth century, is comprised of council chambers, courts, a torture chamber and prisons as well as the private apartments of the Doge. The architectural design is unusual– the lower loggia consists of simple Gothic arches, while the upper loggia is richly patterned with delicate arcading. These loggias support a mass of light-pink masonry, intersected by arched windows.
Behind the Palace is the dome of the magnificent San Marco. John Ruskin, the nineteenth century art historian famed for his adoration of Venice, described its "multitude of pillars and white domes, clustered into a long low pyramid of coloured light; a treasure heap, it seems, partly of gold, and partly of opal and mother of pearl, hollowed beneath into five great vaulted porches, ceiled with fair mosaic, and beset with sculpture of alabaster, clear as amber and delicate as ivory" (As quoted in Hugh Honour, The Companion Guide to Venice, London, 1990, p. 32). San Marco was built as the Doge's chapel and only became the Cathedral Church of Venice in 1807. It is of Veneto-Byzantine design built at the time when the Venetian Doge became Dominator quartae et dimidiae partis totius Romanius (Ruler of a quarter and a half of the Roman Empire).
Rebuilt at the beginning of the twentieth century, the campanile was originally constructed in the ninth century and reached its present height in the sixteenth. The bell tower served as a landmark to ships bringing the riches of the Orient, such as silks, spices, jewels and relics to Europe.
The Doge's Palace, which began to take its present form in the mid-fourteenth century, is comprised of council chambers, courts, a torture chamber and prisons as well as the private apartments of the Doge. The architectural design is unusual– the lower loggia consists of simple Gothic arches, while the upper loggia is richly patterned with delicate arcading. These loggias support a mass of light-pink masonry, intersected by arched windows.
Behind the Palace is the dome of the magnificent San Marco. John Ruskin, the nineteenth century art historian famed for his adoration of Venice, described its "multitude of pillars and white domes, clustered into a long low pyramid of coloured light; a treasure heap, it seems, partly of gold, and partly of opal and mother of pearl, hollowed beneath into five great vaulted porches, ceiled with fair mosaic, and beset with sculpture of alabaster, clear as amber and delicate as ivory" (As quoted in Hugh Honour, The Companion Guide to Venice, London, 1990, p. 32). San Marco was built as the Doge's chapel and only became the Cathedral Church of Venice in 1807. It is of Veneto-Byzantine design built at the time when the Venetian Doge became Dominator quartae et dimidiae partis totius Romanius (Ruler of a quarter and a half of the Roman Empire).
Rebuilt at the beginning of the twentieth century, the campanile was originally constructed in the ninth century and reached its present height in the sixteenth. The bell tower served as a landmark to ships bringing the riches of the Orient, such as silks, spices, jewels and relics to Europe.