Vincenzo Chilone

With Galerie Kugel, Paris, by November 1984;

Howard and Yvette Mimieux Ruby (1942–2022), Los Angeles;

Their sale ('Il Sogno: The Collection of Howard and Yvette Mimieux Ruby'), Los Angeles, Bonhams, 21 September 2022, lot 6 (as Giuseppe Borsato);

Where acquired by the present owner.

This visually compelling painting is an important addition to the œuvre of Vincenzo Chilone, one of the last great proponents of Venetian view painting. A native of Venice, Chilone subscribed to the tradition established by Canaletto in the first half of the 18^th century. Traditionally attributed to Giuseppe Borsato (1771–1849), Chilone’s younger contemporary, the attribution to Chilone was endorsed when following its sale in 2022 the work was cleaned and his signature revealed (see Provenance).

This lively and colourful work is an important historical record documenting the entrance by boat of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) in Venice on 29 November 1807. Set against the entrance to the Grand Canal dominated by an ephemeral wooden triumphal arch built for the occasion, the picture captures the vibrant pageantry and jubilant atmosphere of this historic event. Encouraged by cheering crowds peering down from nearby balconies and bridges, with particularly charming clusters of viewers standing on the bases of the triumphal columns either side of the arch, Napoleon’s barge is shown navigating through the centre of the composition.

Topographically accurate in its rendering of the city, this is the only known depiction on canvas of this event from a central viewpoint. An engraving by an anonymous aritst, with differences in the staffage and vessels, is in the Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe della Fondazione Musei Civici Venezia, Venice.¹ Depictions of this subject by Giuseppe Borsato are in the Museo Correr, Venice; the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome; and the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan.²

This work will be included in Roberto de Feo's forthcoming catalogue raisonné on Vincenzo Chilone.

¹ https://www.archiviodellacomunicazione.it/sicap/Stampe/9951/?WEB=MuseiVE

² G. Duby and G. Lobrichon (eds), Vita e Fasti di Venezia attraverso la Pittura, Milan 1991, pp. 240–41, reproduced in colour; https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en-US/borsato/arrival-of-napoleon-in-venice-arrivo-di-napoleone-a-venezia-by-giuseppe-borsato-19th-century-oil-on/oil-on-canvas/asset/1266865; https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/Lombardia/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/L0020-00061_R03