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Lot Essay
Dating to 1736-7, this work demonstrates the precocious brilliance of Bernardo Bellotto, who was only 15 or 16 at the time it was painted. From a remarkably early age, Bellotto reworked compositions devised by his uncle Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto (1697-1698), to singular effect, developing a technique that was looser and therefore less time-consuming than his uncle’s, and evolving a rich tonal palette that is readily distinguishable from the latter’s. The small group of Venetian views accepted as by Bellotto in Stefan Kozakiewicz’s monograph of 1972 has been significantly augmented in recent times by Charles Beddington and Bozena Anna Kowalczyk. It was Beddington who first recognized Bellotto’s hand in this veduta, and it was subsequently shown to Kowalczyk, whose comprehensive entry was published in the 2013 sale catalogue.
This picture is based on the prototype by Canaletto (measuring 59 x 93 cm.), which was one of a series of four vedute acquired in Venice by Charles Powlett, 3rd Duke of Bolton (1685-1754) (see G. Knox, ‘Four Canaletti for the Duke of Bolton and two ‘Aid-memoire’’, Apollo, October 1993, pp. 245ff; J.G. Links, A Supplement to W.G. Constable’s Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697- 1768, pp. 9-10, no. 85).
Paintings and drawings by the young Bellotto have survived that show compositions related to all four Bolton canvases. The preparatory drawing for this picture (fig. 1) was among some seventy sheets from the artist’s estate and was offered as by Canaletto at Fischer, Zurich, 2 June 1945, lot 9 (measuring 256 x 365 mm).
This view of the Molo is taken from a point in the Bacino di San Marco near the Riva degli Schiavoni, showing, from the left, the Zecca and the Libreria, the Piazzetta with the Columns of Saints Mark and Theodore, the Palazzo Ducale and, in the foreground on the extreme right, the Palazzo delle Prigioni Nuove (built between 1566 and 1614); behind the Doge’s Palace, the top of the Campanile is visible, with its instantly recognizable pyramidal spire.
This work will be published by Bozena Anna Kowalczyk in her forthcoming Bernardo Bellotto catalogue raisonné.
This picture is based on the prototype by Canaletto (measuring 59 x 93 cm.), which was one of a series of four vedute acquired in Venice by Charles Powlett, 3rd Duke of Bolton (1685-1754) (see G. Knox, ‘Four Canaletti for the Duke of Bolton and two ‘Aid-memoire’’, Apollo, October 1993, pp. 245ff; J.G. Links, A Supplement to W.G. Constable’s Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697- 1768, pp. 9-10, no. 85).
Paintings and drawings by the young Bellotto have survived that show compositions related to all four Bolton canvases. The preparatory drawing for this picture (fig. 1) was among some seventy sheets from the artist’s estate and was offered as by Canaletto at Fischer, Zurich, 2 June 1945, lot 9 (measuring 256 x 365 mm).
This view of the Molo is taken from a point in the Bacino di San Marco near the Riva degli Schiavoni, showing, from the left, the Zecca and the Libreria, the Piazzetta with the Columns of Saints Mark and Theodore, the Palazzo Ducale and, in the foreground on the extreme right, the Palazzo delle Prigioni Nuove (built between 1566 and 1614); behind the Doge’s Palace, the top of the Campanile is visible, with its instantly recognizable pyramidal spire.
This work will be published by Bozena Anna Kowalczyk in her forthcoming Bernardo Bellotto catalogue raisonné.