Lot 115
  • 115

Francesco Guardi

Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 GBP
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Description

  • Francesco Guardi
  • The interior of the church of S. Zanipolo, Venice
  • Pen and brown ink and wash

Provenance

Sale, London, Sotheby's, 5 July 2006, lot 66

Literature

K.T. Parker and J. Byam Shaw, Canaletto e Guardi, exhibition catalogue, Venice, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, 1962, p. 69, under cat. no. 95;
Antonio Morassi, Guardi, 2 vols., Venice 1973, vol. I p. 185, and under note to catalogue no. 264;
idem, Guardi, Tutti I Disegni, Venice 1975, cat. 272, reproduced fig. 273

Condition

Laid down. Overall in good condition. A few raised bumps in the sheet, appears to be thicker pulp in the paper. Pen and brown ink and wash is 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. 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 is a preparatory study for Guardi's painting The Visit of Pope Pius VI to Venice: Te Deum in the Church of S. Zanipolo, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art.1  Another study of the inside of the church, connected with the same painting, is in the Victoria & Albert Museum,2 and the same interior is known from another painted version, with differences in the figures (private collection, Paris).

While the more meticulous drawing now in the Victoria & Albert Museum concentrates only on the description of the elaborate gothic architecture, the present sheet is a quick, lively sketch of the interior, capturing the atmosphere, the numerous figures, and also the macchina for the orchestra, visible to the left of the transept. The scene depicted is the last day of the Pope's visit to Venice, 19 May 1782. The Pope, who was returning from an important diplomatic mission in Vienna, stopped in Venice for four days. The Republic of Venice, through Pietro Edwards, commissioned Francesco Guardi to record the most important events of this visit in four paintings; one of those canvases is the picture now in Cleveland, for which the present drawing is a study.

1.  Morassi, op. cit., 1973, no. 264, reproduced vol. II, figs. 293 and 297
2.  Inv. no. D1740-1885; Morassi, op. cit., 1975, no. 271, fig. 275
3.  Morassi, op.cit., 1973, no. 265, reproduced vol. II, fig. 294