Gaspar van Wittel, called Vanvitelli

Estimate

60,000 - 80,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Gaspar van Wittel, called Vanvitelli
A large double page album spread with three panoramic views:Recto: A) a view of the bay of Sorrento drawn from a terrace;Verso: B) the small port of Marina Grande in Sorrento, with the beach and houses on the shore, boats anchored in the bay C) a distant view of the 'Penisola Sorrentina' with Vesuvius, plants and flowers in the foreground
Pen and brown ink and grey wash over black chalk, squared in red chalk for transfer, bears inscriptions in black chalk twice: Sorrent and an illegible one (recto);
pen and brown ink (verso, B) and C)) and grey wash over black chalk (verso, B)) with black chalk inscription: Sorrent (verso, B)) and several black chalk inscriptions: Vesuvio! van Wittel, ....Get 13/2/21 in Rom/Aus Neaples/16/8416 (verso, C))

Provenance

L. Pollak (L.788b);
with A. Stein and L. Lowe, exhib. cat., Old Master drawings presented by A. Stein and L. Lowe, H. Terry Engell Gallery, London, p. 8, no. 66, only b reproduced pl. 47;
Sale, Paris, Christie’s, 22 March 2007, lot 225, bought by the present owner

Literature

G. Briganti, Gaspar van Wittel, Milan, 1996, p. 349, no. D182, p. 276 under no. 397;
L. Trezzani, Gaspare Vanvitelli e le origini del vedutismo, exhib. cat., Rome, Chiostro del Bramante and Venice, Museo Correr, 2003, p. 218, under no. 74

Condition

A) Fold with cracks in the centre of the spread, where the pages were sewed to an album, reinforced on the verso by a piece of paper running vertically. A number of tears and nicks around the edges and a small loss at top in the centre of the spread. Three pieces of tape on the bottom margin to the left and one at the top. A strip of white modern paper is attached to the centre of the left margin. A defect in the paper has caused a small tear to the bottom right in the centre of the spread. There is a fold in the middle running horizontally were the sheet was put to dry. A large light beige stain in the centre to the right, staining also along the middle of the spread and small stains light brown and grey scattered around. B) A strip of paper reinforcing the spread is visible on the right margin. Some small tears and nicks around the margins. The fold in the middle where the sheet was put to dry is slightly visible especially to the right. Soiling around the margins but the image and media overall very fresh. C) General soiling and a stain to the left margin, in the centre of the sheet. Traces of the fold in the middle and a vertical one. Scattered staining. Tears and nicks all around the margins. Paper is strong and overall for such a large sheet condition is quite good and media strong.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

This double spread, with on the recto a handsome view of the rocky coast of Sorrento with houses and palaces built just over the high rocks, is a preparatory study for a painting, commissioned by the Spanish viceroy, Don Louis de la Cerna (1660-1711), Duke of Medinaceli, first published by Nicola Spinosa in 1990, when it was exhibited in London.¹

The Duke of Medinaceli was in Naples as viceroy from 1692 to 1701, and in 1700 he invited Vanvitelli to come to the city in order to paint several views of Naples and its surroundings. As pointed out by Ludovica Trezzani (see Literature) this delightful painting, now in Toledo (see fig. 1), is a unique and rare view of Sorrento, which at the beginning of the eighteenth century was not a popular spot for travellers to the South of Italy, although it became so from the last quarter of the century. The drawing is surely done from life, and executed from the terrace which we see quickly sketched with assured lines, in pen and ink, to the right. The different planes and details of the view, from the sea to the mountainous areas in the background, are skilfully understood and executed in pen and ink, with the eye of a keen observer, and finished with the point of the brush and a painterly application of thick gray wash, to define the areas of shadows.

In one of the two pages of the verso, visible once the large view is folded, van Wittel has captured one of the most realistic views of the small port of Marina Grande in Sorrento, with its beach and a few boats at anchor, possibly in the calm of a late afternoon. The artist has depicted the rocky foreground to the right with broad and assured strokes, reinforced by the point of the brush and brown ink with a few touches of grey wash which pick up the touches of the same colour he has used on the sea. The intensity of the light and shadows with which the view is described is of incredible vitality and extraordinary realism. The campanile of the convent of Saint Francis is visible to the far right while in the centre in the shadows the walls of the 16^th century fortress can be clearly seen. Van Wittel seems to be standing and sketching from the rocks to the right of the composition.

No paintings related to this delightful view or to the sketch for the Penisola Sorrentina with Vesuvius, also on the verso, are known.

1. In the Shadow of the Vesuvius. Views of Naples from Baroque to Romanticism 1631-1830, exhib. cat., London, Accademia Italiana, 1990, p. 139, reproduced p. 37