Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto

With Giammaria Sasso, Venice, by 1790;
From whom acquired by Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet (1749-1838), Ashridge Park, in 1790 (his label on the reverse);
By descent to his grandson, John Hume Egerton, Viscount Alford (1812-1851);
By descent to his son, John William Spencer Brownlow Egerton-Cust, 2nd Earl Brownlow (1842–1867);
Thence by descent within the family to Lord Brownlow;
By whom sold, London, Sotheby's, 26 March, 1969, lot 131, for £17,000 to E.P. Taylor;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 11 June 1971, lot 92, for 13,000 gns. to Hallsborough;
Dino Fabbri (1920-2001);
His anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 1 November 1978, lot 53;
There acquired by the present collector.

Toronto, Art Gallery of Toronto; Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada; 
Montreal, Museum of Fine Arts, Canaletto, 17 October 1984 - 28 February 1965, no. 28.

Ashridge Park catalogue, 1851, p. 15, cat. no. 45;
F. Mauroner, "Collezionisti e vedutisti settecenteschi a Venezia," in Arte Veneta, 1947, p. 49 (possibly the "S. Giov. e Paolo - Canaletto" cited in letters between British resident in Venice, John Strange and Venetian dealer, Giammaria Sasso) 
W.G. Constable, Canaletto, Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697-1768, Oxford 1962, vol. II, p. 321, cat. no. 309, reproduced vol. I, plate 58;
L. Puppi, L'opera completa del Canaletto, Milan 1968, p. 111, cat. no. 246A, reproduced;
W.G. Constable, Canaletto, Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697-1768, revised by J.G. Links, Oxford 1989, vol. II,  pp. 342-3, cat. no. 309, reproduced, vol. I, plate 58;
L. Borean, "Lettere artistiche del Settecento veneziano, 2, Il carteggio Giovanni Maria Sasso - Abraham Hume," in Fonti e documenti per la storia dell’arte veneta, 11, 2004, p. 157.

The following condition report has been provided by Kirsten Younger of Kirsten Younger Paintings Restoration, 212-288-4370, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The painting is in good condition overall. The canvas support is lined with an old glue lining, the tacking margins appear to be trimmed and the canvas edges are covered with paper tape. The church, the monument and the other buildings are thickly painted and the original glazes remain intact overall. In the shadowed area on the right edge of the grey building the dark glazes are thin and this area is retouched. The architectural details that are finely painted with dark paint are in very good condition with some small retouches. There are a few areas of retouching of the highpoints of the canvas in the gondola in the lower right corner, along the bottom edge of the water and in the shadows in the foreground above the steps. There is a diagonal line of paint loss in the lower right corner, a small fill in the upper right corner and a tiny fill near the right edge of the dome. There are areas of thinness in the blue glazes in the sky that are retouched but the thickly painted areas of intense blue and the pink touches in the clouds are well preserved. The figures and the dog are in good condition. The varnish is clear and the surface gloss is even.
"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."

Canaletto painted this charming view shortly after his return to Venice following a highly successful sojourn in England. The painting's provenance can be traced back to 1790, identifiable as the “S. Giov. e Paolo – Canaletto,” alluded to in correspondence between the renowned Venetian art dealer, Giammaria Sasso and John Strange, a British resident in Venice.¹ Sasso sold this Canaletto view, along with numerous other paintings, to the British aristocrat Sir Abraham Hume (fig. 1) for his collection at Ashbridge Park. An old label, pertaining to Hume’s loan of the present painting to Lord Alford, is still visible on the reverse of the stretcher, reading: Canaletto/statue of Coleoni / Bought by Sir Abraham Hume/ given by him to Lord Alford/ It will return to the Hume Collect. The painting remained in the Baronet's family until 1969, when it sold at Sotheby’s London (see Provenance). 

Extensive research into the Giammaria Sasso archives was carried out by Dr. Linda Borean, who published annotated correspondence between the art dealer and his client in 2004 (see Literature). Thanks to this valuable research and the distinctive subject of the painting, the present canvas can now be definitively identified as that discussed by Sasso and Strange and sold by the former to Hume. On 15 January 1790, Sasso wrote to Hume from Venice to inquire whether he had yet received a shipment of paintings, "Sono curioso sapere se siano giunte costì la cassetta col modellino Tiziano e le altre cose." ("I am curious to know whether the the crate has arrived there with the little Titian modello and the other things.")² Among the "other things" shipped alongside the Titian were a Tintoretto and paintings by Canaletto, the present canvas included. Hume wrote in reply on 7 February 1790 to confirm the crate had finally arrived, in good order, and he was pleased with its contents, "Finalmente m’è giunta la cassetta aspettata in buon ordine, e sono contentissimo delle cose racchiuse." The Baronet continued his missive, singling out the present view for particular praise, "I Canaletti sono del suo miglior fare, sopra tutto quello dove si vede la statua di Coleone." ("The Canalettos are of his best work, above all that in which you see the statue of Coleone.") 

For this unusual Venetian view, Canaletto selected the equestrian monument to Bartolomeo Colleoni as the composition's imposing protagonist. The artist depicted the sculpture from across the Rio dei Mendicanti and just slightly to the north, facing eastward. This angle permitted Canaletto to incorporate the east transept and dome of the church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, yet the low viewpoint ensures the monument looms over the surrounding buildings and dominates the skyline. A skilled military tactician, Bartolomeo Colleoni (1400-1475) was appointed Captain General of the Venetian Republic in 1455. Upon his death in 1475, the general left a large sum of money to the Republic to fund the war against the Ottoman Turks, with instructions that a monument be erected in Piazza San Marco in honor of his service. The equestrian monument was executed by Andrea del Verrocchio, though regulations prevented it from being constructed in Piazza San Marco and it was instead placed in Piazza Santi Giovanni e Paolo, where it stands today.

Canaletto painted another version of this composition, formerly in the collection of Earl Mountbatten of Burma, which Lionello Puppi considered to be a replica of the present painting.³ The Mountbatten canvas is smaller in dimensions and depicts the monument from slightly further south, with variations in the water vessels. A further version of the present painting, this time following its composition exactly, though executed by a member of Canaletto's workshop, sold at Christie's New York in 1996.⁴ 

We are grateful to Charles Beddington and Bozena Anna Kowalczyk for endorsing the attribution after firsthand inspection and on the basis of a photograph respectively, and to Dr. Nicholas Penny and Dr. Linda Borean for alerting us to the painting's citation in correspondence of 1790 between Sasso and Hume.

1. F. Mauroner under Literature.
2. L. Borean under Literature, p. 155.
3. For the replica (which measures 11 by 8 1/8  in.; 28 by 20.5 cm.) see L. Puppi under Literature, p. 111, cat. no. 246B.
4. Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 4 October 1996, lot 116 (as Studio of Canaletto).