The Property of a Distinguished Collector

English Follower of Canaletto

Venice, a view of the Palazzo Ducale from the Bacino, with the Bucintoro returning to the Molo on Ascension Day

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Lot Closed

December 5, 03:35 PM GMT

Estimate

30,000 - 50,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

The Property of a Distinguished Collector

English Follower of Canaletto

Venice, a view of the Palazzo Ducale from the Bacino, with the Bucintoro returning to the Molo on Ascension Day

oil on canvas

unframed: 76.2 x 127 cm.; 30 x 50 in.

framed: 95.5 x 146.2 cm.; 37 5/8 x 57 5/8 in.

The canvas is lined, the paint surface is slightly dirty and the varnish is slightly discoloured. Some small, discoloured retouchings are visible to the naked eye in the sky upper centre. Inspection under ultraviolet light confirms these but appears to reveal very little other intervention save for some strengthening in the shadows of the campanile. The painting is in overall very good condition.

The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE/BUSINESS APPLICABLE TO THE RESPECTIVE SALE.

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 13 July 1994, lot 118 (as William James);
Where acquired by the present owner.

This composition is based on the design by Canaletto employed in the painting formerly with Bellesi, London, in 1940,¹ and in an autograph version in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona (inv. no. 77, on deposit from the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza).² A number of other studio versions also exist.³

The present work emulates the position and formation of the clouds in the Bellesi picture and much of the staffage and the gondolas are also replicated; but the composition as a whole here feels more spacious, with the canal slightly widened and more water visible between the vessels.

¹http://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda/opera/71706/

² https://www.museunacional.cat/en/colleccio/return-il-bucintoro-ascension-day/giovanni-antonio-canal-canaletto/212851-000

³ See W.G. Constable, Canaletto. Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697–1768, J.G. Links (ed.), London 1976, vol. II, pp. 361–62, under cat. no. 340.