Antonio Joli

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 29 March 1968, lot 115, for £3,800 gns to Leger;
With the Leger Gallery, London, 1968;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 30 November 1973, lot 20;
Private collection, Italy.

London, The Antique Dealers Fair, June 1968.

Catalogo Bolaffi della pittura italiana del '600 e del '700, n. 1, Turin 1974, p. 109;
M. Manzelli, Antonio Joli. Opera pittorica, Venice 1999, p. 94, cat. no. R. 28, reproduced fig. 65;
R. Toledano, Antonio Joli, Turin 2006, p. 131, cat. no. R.I.5, reproduced (with incorrect measurements).

The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has a strong oldish lining and good rather older stretcher. The present varnish is fairly recent and there is scarcely any retouching nor any need for it. The remarkably pure condition of the painting suggests a peaceful early life in stable surroundings, without any interventions or disturbance of the paint surface. The calm unrubbed quality of the paint is rare. The old stretcher bar lines can be seen, including from the vertical bars leaving their craquelure in the sky, and a few minimal retouches have been added to mute these, with two or three minor touches also along the top edge. But otherwise the virtually untouched finish and gentle detail of the brushwork has aged perfectly in a fine, unworn balance. 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 charming view of the Roman Forum was one of Joli's most popular and successful compositions. Known as the 'Campo Vaccino' since the end of the sixteenth century due to the herds of cows that grazed there, peasants sold their produce and watered their animals in the Forum until the mid-nineteenth century. The design, however, is framed by monuments from the Forum's more glorious past: from left to right we see the temple of Antoninus and Faustina, the Basilica of Maxentius, the church of Santa Francesca Romana with the Colosseum behind, the Arch of Titus, the Palatine Hill and the Farnese gardens, erected under Pope Paul III, and to the right the church of Santa Maria Liberatrice, which was to be demolished in 1899.

Born in Modena, Joli was to travel extensively throughout Italy and Europe. His formative years were spent in the studio of Gian Paolo Panini in Rome where he developed his interest in view painting. The master's influence can be felt in the present work for Panini himself painted this view a number of times, the best example of which is his signed and dated painting from 1735 in the Detroit Institute of Art which is taken from a lower view point.¹

We are grateful to Dr Ralph Toledano for endorsing the attribution on the basis of photographs. Dr Toledano does not exclude some studio participation.

1. See F. Arisi, Gian Paolo Panini e i fasti della Roma del '700, Rome 1986, p. 346, cat. no. 229, reproduced.