Giacomo van Lint

Anonymous sale ('The Property of a Lady'), London, Christie's, 9 April 1990, lot 81, for £121,000;

With Heide Hübner, Würzburg, by March 1991;

Private collection, Germany;

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 14 December 2000, lot 88, for £201,500;

With Richard Green, London;

From whom acquired in December 2000.

The son of the Flemish painter Hendrik Frans van Lint (1684–1763; lot 84), Giacomo van Lint continued the distinguished family tradition of producing luminous vedute that catered to the flourishing market of Grand Tour collectors, inheriting his father’s refined eye for urban topography and compositional clarity. This rare pair of signed, sunlit views captures two emblematic landmarks of the Eternal City, the Piazza del Quirinale and the Ponte Sisto, and balances architectural precision with a vibrant and cheerful record of urban life.

The first view presents the Piazza del Quirinale, with the imposing Palazzo del Quirinale at left—the summer residence of the Popes until 1870—facing the late Baroque Palazzo della Consulta in the centre. To the right rises the rounded façade of the Scuderie del Quirinale, the former Papal stables. In the centre of the composition are the celebrated Dioscuri, classical sculptures depicting the twin half-brothers Castor and Pollux. Van Lint animates this monumental setting with elegantly attired figures, carriages, and small groups of conversing cityfolk, adding a sense of vitality to the composition.

The companion painting depicts the magnificent Ponte Sisto, commissioned in 1473 by Pope Sixtus IV (1414–84), after whom it is named. To the left lies the Spiaggia della Renella, once a bustling riverside beach, while on the right stands the Casa dei Centopreti. Rising beyond are the rooftops of Trastevere and the Palazzo Farnese, visible in the centre of the composition. The scene is enlivened by boatmen navigating the river and figures strolling along the banks, admiring the view.

No other versions of the Piazza del Quirinale by Giacomo van Lint are known, nor any corresponding view by his father. A view of the Piazza by Giacomo, showing the façade of the Palazzo del Quirinale taken from the Dioscuri sculptures was with formerly with Adolphe Stein, Paris.¹ Both views predate the erection of the obelisk removed from the Mausoleum of Augustus by order of Pope Pius VI (1717–1799) in 1786.

Van Lint painted another, near identical view of the Ponte Sisto, of larger dimensions and unsigned, in a private collection, Rome.² This view, with differences in the architecture, also features in a signed painting by Giacomo’s father, dated 1720, likewise in a private collection, Rome.³

¹ A. Busiri Vici, Peter, Hendrik e Giacomo Van Lint: Tre pittori di Anversa del '600 e '700 lavorano a Roma, Rome 1987, p. 288, no. 336, reproduced.

² Busiri Vici 1987, p. 286, no. 334, reproduced.

³ Busiri Vici 1987, p. 83, no. 69, reproduced in colour.