Lot Essay
Joli, the most widely travelled of the great view painters of the eighteenth century, spent four years at the court of Ferdinand VI in Madrid after being invited there at the suggestion of the castrato singer Carlo Broschi 'Farinelli' (1702-1782) following the death of the Bolognese painter Giacomo Pavia in Spain in c.1749. Required to paint theatrical scenery at Aranjuez and in the Teatro del Buen Retiro in Madrid, Joli remained in Spain until 1754 and while there executed a number of views of both towns.
Four other versions of the present picture are known. One was published by Giuliano Briganti (The View Painters of Europe, London, 1970, pls.112-13; see also J. Urrea Fernandez, La Pintura Italiana del Siglo XVIII en España, Valladolid, 1977, p.153), who tantalisingly states that it is 'one of a series of four views of Rome, London, Vienna and Madrid' without giving any other details, even of size or location. A version in the collection of the Marqués de Santo Domingo, Madrid, was published by Urrea Fernandez (ibid., pp.153-4 and pl.XXXIII), who describes it as far superior in quality to the painting published by Briganti but again omits its dimensions. A version of a characteristic size for Joli (82 x 170cm.) is in the Palazzo Reale, Naples (exhibited Madrid, Palacio de Velázquez, and Barcelona, Palacio de Pedralbes, Carlos III y la Ilustración, 1988-9, II, pp.450-1, no.39, illustrated in colour). An apparently very small version (31 x 50cm.) was with Agnew's in 1957 (L. Salerno, I Pittori di Vedute in Italia (1580-1830), Rome, 1991, p.260, no.77, illustrated).
The present Palacio Real was first projected by Philip V in 1735, a year after the destruction by fire of the old Alcázar. An ambitious design by Filippo Juvarra, intended to emulate Versailles, was abandoned on the death of the architect in 1736 in favour of a more simple plan by Giovanni Battista Sacchetti. Building was begun in 1738 and Charles III was able to move into the palace in 1764. According to Urrea Fernandez, the presence of the statue of Santiago Matamoros on the dome of the palace chapel dates the view to 1752-3, although he points out that Joli could have had access to the plans and anticipated its erection; from what one knows of Joli's working practice the painting could equally have been executed at a later date
Four other versions of the present picture are known. One was published by Giuliano Briganti (The View Painters of Europe, London, 1970, pls.112-13; see also J. Urrea Fernandez, La Pintura Italiana del Siglo XVIII en España, Valladolid, 1977, p.153), who tantalisingly states that it is 'one of a series of four views of Rome, London, Vienna and Madrid' without giving any other details, even of size or location. A version in the collection of the Marqués de Santo Domingo, Madrid, was published by Urrea Fernandez (ibid., pp.153-4 and pl.XXXIII), who describes it as far superior in quality to the painting published by Briganti but again omits its dimensions. A version of a characteristic size for Joli (82 x 170cm.) is in the Palazzo Reale, Naples (exhibited Madrid, Palacio de Velázquez, and Barcelona, Palacio de Pedralbes, Carlos III y la Ilustración, 1988-9, II, pp.450-1, no.39, illustrated in colour). An apparently very small version (31 x 50cm.) was with Agnew's in 1957 (L. Salerno, I Pittori di Vedute in Italia (1580-1830), Rome, 1991, p.260, no.77, illustrated).
The present Palacio Real was first projected by Philip V in 1735, a year after the destruction by fire of the old Alcázar. An ambitious design by Filippo Juvarra, intended to emulate Versailles, was abandoned on the death of the architect in 1736 in favour of a more simple plan by Giovanni Battista Sacchetti. Building was begun in 1738 and Charles III was able to move into the palace in 1764. According to Urrea Fernandez, the presence of the statue of Santiago Matamoros on the dome of the palace chapel dates the view to 1752-3, although he points out that Joli could have had access to the plans and anticipated its erection; from what one knows of Joli's working practice the painting could equally have been executed at a later date