A capriccio with a ruined temple, a fortified bridge and a campanile on the lagoon

Details

Francesco Guardi (Venice 1712-1793)
A capriccio with a ruined temple, a fortified bridge and a campanile on the lagoon
oil on panel, oval
11 x 8 7/8 in. (28 x 22.5 cm.)

Provenance

with Thomas Agnew and Sons, prior to 1952.
Anonymous sale [The Property of a Gentleman]; Christie's, London, 18 March 1955, lots 20 and 21 (respectively 1,050 gns. and 650 gns. to Agnew).
with Thomas Agnew and Sons, London, from whom acquired on 29 March 1955 by
Donald Stirling Palmer Howard, 3rd Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal (1891-1959).
with Richard Green, London.

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Lot Essay

Clearly intended as the right-hand pendant to the Capriccio with a ruined arch and town walls (see lot 30 in this sale), this panel incorporates motifs, including the Corinthian temple and the campanile, that are similar to those used in other compositions of Guardi's late maturity. With the Portico with shops in the Wallace Collection, referred to in the entry for the previous lot, and its pendant of the Portico of the Doge's Palace (A. Morassi, Guardi, I dipinti, Venice, 1984, no 779, fig. 741), this and the companion would appear to be the only known oval panels of the type by Guardi, and the design of this Capriccio suggests that it was devised for the format.

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