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Lot Essay
Giuseppe Zocchi was an accomplished painter and printmaker, known as the ‘Canaletto of Florence’. From an early age Zocchi enjoyed the patronage of Florentine nobleman, Marchese Andrea Gerini (1691-1766). Gerini sent the young artist to study the work of his contemporaries in Rome, Bologna, Milan and especially Venice, where he remained for almost two years, and saw paintings by Canaletto, Bernardo Bellotto and Michele Marieschi. Returning to Florence around 1741, with the work of these celebrated vedutisti fresh in his mind, Zocchi undertook an extensive project for the Marchese. He was commissioned to produce seventy-seven drawings for two series of etched views, depicting Florence and its Tuscan surroundings, intended as souvenirs for those visiting the city. Zocchi finished the project by the end of 1741, when his designs were sent off to the best engravers throughout the Italian Peninsula. Writing in his Vite de' pittori of circa 1741, the Florentine painter, diplomat and biographer, Francesco Maria Niccolò Gabburri (1675-1742) described Zocchi, newly returned from his Venetian sojourn, working intently for Gerini on paintings after these drawings:
‘Il Sig. Marchese Andrea Gerini gran dilettante e intelligentissimo della Pittura, avendo riconosciuto il gran talento e lo spirito di questo giovane, lo prese a proteggere, e attualmente lo tiene in sua casa, impegnato a dipingere vedute a olio, delle quali in buon numero ne ha fatto in disegno, che presentemente stanno intagliando in rame da vari primari intagliatori’ (unpublished manuscript cited in A. Tosi, op. cit., p. 55).
‘The Signore Marchese Andrea Gerini, an intellectual and great enthusiast of painting, having recognised the great talent and spirit of this young man, took him under his protection and actually took him into his home, employed to paint various views in oil, of which a good number he had made drawings, which are currently being engraved in copper by various leading engravers.’
Zocchi’s preparatory drawings for the engraved series are today in the Morgan Library, New York and among them is a view of The Piazza della Signoria during the Festival of Homage (fig. 1). The topographical accuracy of the present painting suggests it too was based on a preparatory drawing, most likely one executed in situ. The painting and the Morgan Library drawing share the same viewpoint and Zocchi’s execution of the buildings is almost identical in each. The drawing, however, shows the piazza frenetic with activity, with riders racing on horseback, soldiers in formation and crowds of onlookers celebrating the feast, while in the painting it appears as it might on an ordinary day. At left is the Palazzo Vecchio, the seat of government for the Florentine republic since the thirteenth century. Directly ahead, Zocchi faithfully depicts the Loggia dei Lanzi and, even from this distance, Giambologna’s 1583 marble sculpture of The Abduction of a Sabine Woman and Benvenuto Cellini’s iconic 1545 depiction of Perseus in bronze are instantly recognizable, in the same locations in which they stand today.
Some scholars, including Roberto Contini, believe the present painting may have been among a number of Zocchi’s Florentine view paintings owned by Gerini himself, though it does not appear in either the 1759 or 1786 catalogues of his collection (Contini, 2002, op. cit.). Its close relationship to the drawing, which certainly belonged to the Marchese, would support the hypothesis that Gerini himself owned this picture immediately after it was executed, perhaps one of the ‘vedute a olio’ (‘views in oil’) described by Gabburri.
While in the Ashburnham collection (see provenance), the present painting was accompanied by another picture by Zocchi, The Arno from the Porta a San Niccolò, which sold in 2015 (fig. 2; Christie’s, New York, 28 January 2015, lot 46). Publishing the painting in 1962, Antonio Morassi noted the relationship of the two Ashburnham views with a third canvas, also of similar dimensions, depicting The Arno with the bridge of Santa Trinità, now in the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (fig. 3). Some scholars initially believed these three works to be identifiable as those included in Count Agnolo Galli Tassi’s exhibition, held at the Santissima Annunziata, Florence, in July of 1767, in honor of Zocchi who had died a month earlier (Gregori and Blasio, op. cit.). Of the three canvases, however, only the Thyssen picture correctly matches the description of one of those exhibited, while the other two were a View of the Pescaia and a View of Piazza San Firenze (Contini, op. cit.).
At some point in the 1780s, the present painting was acquired by George, 3rd Earl of Ashburnham (1760- 1830). George was the eldest surviving son and heir of John, 2nd Earl Ashburnham and his second wife Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of John Crowley of Barking, Co. Suffolk. From 1781 to 1783, George undertook an extensive European tour and his surviving diaries from that time record trips to Flanders, Austria, Germany, and Italy. It is not known precisely how and when this painting was acquired by George, but it descended in the collections of five Earls in the family and was bequeathed to Lady Catherine Ashburnham, until it was eventually sold following her death. In the 1953 sale catalogue, the provenance was listed as ‘from Villa Pasquale’ (now the villa Pratolino) which was George’s residence during his stay in Florence: it can be presumed therefore that he acquired the work while in Tuscany (loc. cit.). While the view of the Arno was likely acquired at the same time, it was not included in the 1953 sale – instead bequeathed to Mr. and Mrs. Angus Martin Burnett-Stuart by Lady Catherine – and so there is no record as whether it too came from villa Pasquale.
Many of the paintings in George’s renowned collection were acquired during his Grand Tour, or soon after his return to England. Featuring important works by Renaissance painters including Sassetta, Gossaert, Bernard van Orley and Filippino Lippi, the collection also included great portraits by 18th-century painters such as Carlo Maratti and Pompeo Batoni. It was alongside these works that the view of Piazza della Signoria hung in a place of honor, in the Great Entrance Hall at Ashburnham Place, where it remained for almost two centuries.
‘Il Sig. Marchese Andrea Gerini gran dilettante e intelligentissimo della Pittura, avendo riconosciuto il gran talento e lo spirito di questo giovane, lo prese a proteggere, e attualmente lo tiene in sua casa, impegnato a dipingere vedute a olio, delle quali in buon numero ne ha fatto in disegno, che presentemente stanno intagliando in rame da vari primari intagliatori’ (unpublished manuscript cited in A. Tosi, op. cit., p. 55).
‘The Signore Marchese Andrea Gerini, an intellectual and great enthusiast of painting, having recognised the great talent and spirit of this young man, took him under his protection and actually took him into his home, employed to paint various views in oil, of which a good number he had made drawings, which are currently being engraved in copper by various leading engravers.’
Zocchi’s preparatory drawings for the engraved series are today in the Morgan Library, New York and among them is a view of The Piazza della Signoria during the Festival of Homage (fig. 1). The topographical accuracy of the present painting suggests it too was based on a preparatory drawing, most likely one executed in situ. The painting and the Morgan Library drawing share the same viewpoint and Zocchi’s execution of the buildings is almost identical in each. The drawing, however, shows the piazza frenetic with activity, with riders racing on horseback, soldiers in formation and crowds of onlookers celebrating the feast, while in the painting it appears as it might on an ordinary day. At left is the Palazzo Vecchio, the seat of government for the Florentine republic since the thirteenth century. Directly ahead, Zocchi faithfully depicts the Loggia dei Lanzi and, even from this distance, Giambologna’s 1583 marble sculpture of The Abduction of a Sabine Woman and Benvenuto Cellini’s iconic 1545 depiction of Perseus in bronze are instantly recognizable, in the same locations in which they stand today.
Some scholars, including Roberto Contini, believe the present painting may have been among a number of Zocchi’s Florentine view paintings owned by Gerini himself, though it does not appear in either the 1759 or 1786 catalogues of his collection (Contini, 2002, op. cit.). Its close relationship to the drawing, which certainly belonged to the Marchese, would support the hypothesis that Gerini himself owned this picture immediately after it was executed, perhaps one of the ‘vedute a olio’ (‘views in oil’) described by Gabburri.
While in the Ashburnham collection (see provenance), the present painting was accompanied by another picture by Zocchi, The Arno from the Porta a San Niccolò, which sold in 2015 (fig. 2; Christie’s, New York, 28 January 2015, lot 46). Publishing the painting in 1962, Antonio Morassi noted the relationship of the two Ashburnham views with a third canvas, also of similar dimensions, depicting The Arno with the bridge of Santa Trinità, now in the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (fig. 3). Some scholars initially believed these three works to be identifiable as those included in Count Agnolo Galli Tassi’s exhibition, held at the Santissima Annunziata, Florence, in July of 1767, in honor of Zocchi who had died a month earlier (Gregori and Blasio, op. cit.). Of the three canvases, however, only the Thyssen picture correctly matches the description of one of those exhibited, while the other two were a View of the Pescaia and a View of Piazza San Firenze (Contini, op. cit.).
At some point in the 1780s, the present painting was acquired by George, 3rd Earl of Ashburnham (1760- 1830). George was the eldest surviving son and heir of John, 2nd Earl Ashburnham and his second wife Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of John Crowley of Barking, Co. Suffolk. From 1781 to 1783, George undertook an extensive European tour and his surviving diaries from that time record trips to Flanders, Austria, Germany, and Italy. It is not known precisely how and when this painting was acquired by George, but it descended in the collections of five Earls in the family and was bequeathed to Lady Catherine Ashburnham, until it was eventually sold following her death. In the 1953 sale catalogue, the provenance was listed as ‘from Villa Pasquale’ (now the villa Pratolino) which was George’s residence during his stay in Florence: it can be presumed therefore that he acquired the work while in Tuscany (loc. cit.). While the view of the Arno was likely acquired at the same time, it was not included in the 1953 sale – instead bequeathed to Mr. and Mrs. Angus Martin Burnett-Stuart by Lady Catherine – and so there is no record as whether it too came from villa Pasquale.
Many of the paintings in George’s renowned collection were acquired during his Grand Tour, or soon after his return to England. Featuring important works by Renaissance painters including Sassetta, Gossaert, Bernard van Orley and Filippino Lippi, the collection also included great portraits by 18th-century painters such as Carlo Maratti and Pompeo Batoni. It was alongside these works that the view of Piazza della Signoria hung in a place of honor, in the Great Entrance Hall at Ashburnham Place, where it remained for almost two centuries.