The Grand Canal, Venice, looking South from the Palazzo Da Lezze towards Santa Maria della Carità

The viewpoint of this picture corresponds closely to that by the Master, of smaller dimensions, sold in these Rooms, 29 October 1999, lot 107. In that picture, however, the artist was able to represent the Palazzo Grassi, on which work was begun in 1748, and was completed in 1766. A similar view (fig. 1) by the eponymous Master in the Langmatt Foundation, but facing slightly more to the west, also shows the small buildings that pre-dated the Palazzo Grassi, and has for that reason been used as 'der wichtigste chronologische Anhaltspunkt als "terminus ante quem" fr die Badener Serie' (see Z. Häfeli and G. Borghero, catalogue of the exhibition, Mythos Venedig, Baden, 1994, pp. 82-3, no. 17, illustrated). The Campanile of S. Maria della Carità collapsed in 1744, and although the possibility that the artist was using earlier drawings cannot be discounted, these two architectural developments suggest that this picture may be dated to 1744-1748.

We are grateful to Charles Beddington for confirming the attribution, having examined the picture in person.