Francesco Guardi

Private collection, UK.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work may be unlined. The tacking edges have been reinforced, and the stretcher is not original. The work is structurally in very good condition. The work is clean and varnished. Guardi's dark ground color has become slightly more prevalent over time in the architecture. There are hardly any retouches. Under ultraviolet light, retouches are only visible around the extreme edges. The painting can be hung as is, although the frame could be reconsidered.
"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 view of Venice by Francesco Guardi appears to be otherwise unrecorded. From the left we see the Fondamenta di San Simeone Piccolo, and Giovanni Antonio Scalfarotto’s domed church of San Simeone Piccolo and a sequence of houses, including the Palazzo Emo Diedo, with the Ponte della Croce leading to the Fondamenta della Croce. Guardi painted this view on several occasions, the best examples of which are the works in Philadelphia and in the Thyssen Collection, Madrid.¹

We are grateful to Charles Beddington for endorsing the attribution following first-hand inspection.

1. See A. Morassi, Guardi, i dipinti, Venice 1984, vol. I, p. 418, cat. no. 579, reproduced fig. 552, and pp. 418-19, cat. no. 580, reproduced figs 553 and 554, respectively.