Giuseppe Borsato* (1771-1849)

A View of Piazza San Marco with the Ceremony for the Return of the Bronze Horses to the Venetian State on 13 December 1815

Details

Giuseppe Borsato* (1771-1849)
A View of Piazza San Marco with the Ceremony for the Return of the Bronze Horses to the Venetian State on 13 December 1815
signed 'G Borsato' (recto) and with inscription 'festa in Piazza on return of horses from France by Borsato' and '204 8' (verso)
black chalk, pen and gray ink, gray wash
8 x 13 in. (224 x 328 mm.)

Lot Essay

The Byzantine bronze horses decorating the faade of the Basilica of San Marco were confiscated by Napoleon's armies in 1798 to be exhibited in Paris and later placed on a triumphal arch. At the Emperor's downfall the horses, like many of the confiscated works of art, were returned to their original locations. The present drawing records the installation of the horses at Piazza di San Marco in 1815.