Giuseppe Bernardino Bison

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 2 July 1997, lot 58;
There purchased by the present collector.

The painting is slightly brighter than it appears in the catalogue illustration. For a high resolution digital image, please refer to the online catalogue at Sothebys.com or contact a member of the Old Master Paintings department. The drawing is laid down on card. There are three diagonal scratches at the right edge, two in the sky and another in wall running just into the figures on the stairs. Elsewhere there are a few minor scratches and some and some cracking in the clouds. However, the overall impression is good and the colors fresh.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Bison was born in Palmanova, in Friuli, and his earliest artistic training was in Brescia.  By age fourteen, he had enrolled in the Venetian Academy.  He was a versatile artist, excelling as a decorative scene painter for theatrical designs and decorative schemes for villas, and as an easel painter of Venetian vedute.  He was also a skilled draftsman and used a variety of media to create highly finished works on paper.  He produced numerous small paintings in gouache of Venetian scenes including real views, scenes of everyday life and fantasy landscapes.

This gouache depicts an accurate and detailed view of the entrance to the Arsenale,  located in the Castello district of Venice.  The Arsenale was a large complex of shipyards and armories, and for centuries the symbol of the military and economic power of the Venetian Republic.  By the mid-15^th century it was probably the largest industrial complex in Europe, employing several thousand men capable of building ships rapidly in a highly organized production-line system.  Bison depicts the main gate, the Porta Magna, which was built in 1460 and is one of the earliest Renaissance structures in the city.  The two lions guarding the gate, taken from Greece, were added in 1687.  Above the gateway entrance can be seen the coat-of-arms of Austria which ruled Venice from 1797-1866 (except for a brief period from 1805-14 when Napoleon re-took it).  With this type of work Bison established a very commercial genre, the Veduta ricordo, no doubt in order to satisfy the demand of tourists and the collectors of the growing bourgeoisie.¹


1.  See F. Magani, Giuseppe Bernardino Bison, Soncino 1993, p. 100, under catalogue no. 25.