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PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION
GIOVANNI ANTONIO CANAL, CALLED IL CANALETTO (VENICE 1697–1768)
Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day
Details
GIOVANNI ANTONIO CANAL, CALLED IL CANALETTO (VENICE 1697–1768)
Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day
oil on canvas
33 7⁄8 x 54 3⁄8 in. (86 x 138.1 cm.)
Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day
oil on canvas
33 7⁄8 x 54 3⁄8 in. (86 x 138.1 cm.)
Provenance
Sir Robert Walpole (1676–1745), created 1st Earl of Orford in 1742, 10 Downing Street, London, by 1736 and until his resignation as Prime Minister in 1742, when removed to another of his London residences, and by descent to his son,
Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford (1701–1751), and by descent to his son,
George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford (1730–1791); his sale, Langford’s, London, 13 June 1751 (=1st day), lot 65 as ‘Ditto [Cannaletti]. The Marriage of the Sea by the Doge, it’s Companion’, where acquired for £34-13 by ‘Raymond’ for the following,
Samson Gideon (1699–1762), Belvedere, near Erith, Kent, and by descent to his son,
Sir Sampson Gideon, 1st Bt. (1745–1824), created Baron Eardley in 1789, Belvedere, near Erith, Kent, and by descent to his daughter,
Maria Marow Gideon (1767–1834), wife of Gregory William Twistleton (from 1825 Eardley-Twistleton-Fiennes), 8th Baron Saye and Sele (1769–1844), Belvedere, near Erith, Kent, and by descent to their son,
William Thomas Eardley-Twistleton-Fiennes, 9th Baron Saye and Sele (1798–1847), Belvedere, near Erith, Kent,
Sir Culling Smith, 2nd Bt. (1768–1829), widower of Lord Eardley’s second daughter Charlotte Elizabeth (d. 1826), Belvedere, near Erith, Kent, and by descent to their son,
Sir Culling (Eardley-) Smith, 3rd Bt. (1805–1863), who assumed the name of Eardley, Belvedere, near Erith, Kent, from which removed in 1860 to Bedwell Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and by descent to his eldest daughter,
Frances Selena, who married in 1865 Robert Hanbury M.P., who added the name of Culling to his surname, Bedwell Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and by inheritance to her sister,
Isabella (d. 1901), wife of the Very Rev. the Hon. William Henry Fremantle, M.D., Dean of Ripon (1831–1916), Bedwell Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and by descent to their son,
Lt.-Col. Sir Francis Edward Fremantle, O.B.E. (1872–1943), Bedwell Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, from whom acquired on 3 July 1930 (with its pendant Venice: The Grand Canal looking North-East from Palazzo Balbi to the Rialto Bridge) by the following,
with Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd., London, where acquired on 4 April 1940 (with its pendant) for £4,400 by,
with Giuseppe Bellesi (1873-1955), Florence and London.
Senator Mario Crespi (1879-1962), Milan, by 1954 (with its pendant; according to Moschini, under Literature).
Presumably acquired with its pendant in Paris in the 1960s, and by descent until sold at the following,
Anonymous sale, Ader Tajan, Paris, 15 December 1993, lot 13, where acquired.
Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford (1701–1751), and by descent to his son,
George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford (1730–1791); his sale, Langford’s, London, 13 June 1751 (=1st day), lot 65 as ‘Ditto [Cannaletti]. The Marriage of the Sea by the Doge, it’s Companion’, where acquired for £34-13 by ‘Raymond’ for the following,
Samson Gideon (1699–1762), Belvedere, near Erith, Kent, and by descent to his son,
Sir Sampson Gideon, 1st Bt. (1745–1824), created Baron Eardley in 1789, Belvedere, near Erith, Kent, and by descent to his daughter,
Maria Marow Gideon (1767–1834), wife of Gregory William Twistleton (from 1825 Eardley-Twistleton-Fiennes), 8th Baron Saye and Sele (1769–1844), Belvedere, near Erith, Kent, and by descent to their son,
William Thomas Eardley-Twistleton-Fiennes, 9th Baron Saye and Sele (1798–1847), Belvedere, near Erith, Kent,
Sir Culling Smith, 2nd Bt. (1768–1829), widower of Lord Eardley’s second daughter Charlotte Elizabeth (d. 1826), Belvedere, near Erith, Kent, and by descent to their son,
Sir Culling (Eardley-) Smith, 3rd Bt. (1805–1863), who assumed the name of Eardley, Belvedere, near Erith, Kent, from which removed in 1860 to Bedwell Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and by descent to his eldest daughter,
Frances Selena, who married in 1865 Robert Hanbury M.P., who added the name of Culling to his surname, Bedwell Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and by inheritance to her sister,
Isabella (d. 1901), wife of the Very Rev. the Hon. William Henry Fremantle, M.D., Dean of Ripon (1831–1916), Bedwell Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and by descent to their son,
Lt.-Col. Sir Francis Edward Fremantle, O.B.E. (1872–1943), Bedwell Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, from whom acquired on 3 July 1930 (with its pendant Venice: The Grand Canal looking North-East from Palazzo Balbi to the Rialto Bridge) by the following,
with Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd., London, where acquired on 4 April 1940 (with its pendant) for £4,400 by,
with Giuseppe Bellesi (1873-1955), Florence and London.
Senator Mario Crespi (1879-1962), Milan, by 1954 (with its pendant; according to Moschini, under Literature).
Presumably acquired with its pendant in Paris in the 1960s, and by descent until sold at the following,
Anonymous sale, Ader Tajan, Paris, 15 December 1993, lot 13, where acquired.
Literature
Anon. [Horace Walpole?], A Catalogue of Sir Robert Walpole’s Pictures in Downing Street, Westminster, Ms. 1736 (part of a complete catalogue of Sir Robert Walpole’s collection of pictures bound into Horace Walpole’s personal copy of the Aedes Walpolianae.., 2nd ed. of 1752, Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, PML 7586), no. 125, as ‘The Doge of Venice in His Barge, with Gondola’s & Masqueraders. Canaletti. 2-9½ 4-5¾’ and as hanging in the Parlour (with its pendant).
R. and J. Dodsley, London and its Environs described, containing An Account of whatever is most remarkable for Grandeur, Elegance, Curiosity or use, In the City and in the Country Twenty Miles round it, London, 1761, I, p. 272, as ‘Ditto, with the Doge marrying the sea. Its companion’ Height 2 feet 9 inc. Breadth 4 Feet 6 inc. [Painted by] Canaletti’.
T. Martyn, The English Connoisseur: containing an Account of Whatever is Curious in Painting, Sculpture, & c. In the Palaces and Seats of the Nobility and Principal Gentry of England, both in Town and Country, London, 1766, I, p. 12 (repeating Dodsley).
E.W. Brayley, The Beauties of England and Wales…, VII, London, 1808, p. 546, as ‘the collection of pictures evince a very judicious choice: among them is a view of Venice, and its companion, with the ceremony of the Doge marrying the Sea, by Canaletti’.
Exhibition review in The Atlas, 947, XIX, 6 July 1844, p. 456, as ‘one of the unrivalled artist’s masterpieces’.
Pictures at Belvedere, 1856, p. 3, as hanging in the Dining Room with its pendant, this one to the right of the chimneypiece [This document is known from a typescript in the library of the National Gallery, London, entitled Pictures at Belvedere 1856. Copy of a Manuscript Catalogue. The paintings by Canaletto are recorded on p. 2 of the typescript.]
G.F. Waagen, Galleries an Cabinets of Art in Great Britain, London, 1857, p. 282, as hanging in the Dining Room and described (with its pendant) as ‘Good specimens of the master’.
E.J. Climenson, Passages from the Diaries of Mrs Philip Lybbe Powys of Hardwick House, Oxon. A.D. 1756 to 1808, London, 1899, p. 150, noting that she recorded in her diary in 1771 having seen ‘two views of Venice by Canaletti’ shortly before the remodelling of Belvedere.
A. Graves, A Century of Loan Exhibitions 1813-1912, London, 1913, I, pp. 143 and 144.
V. Moschini, Canaletto, London and Milan, 1954, p. 22-26, illus. fig. 114 and pl. 16 (colour detail), as datable to circa 1730 and in the collection of Mario Crespi, Milan.
W.G. Constable, Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697-1768, Oxford, 1962, I, illus. pl. 64; II, p. 336, no. 340.
L. Puppi, L’opera completa del Canaletto, Milan, 1968, p. 100, no. 109 A, as datable to 1731-32.
L. Puppi, Tout l’oeuvre peint de Canaletto, Paris 1975, p. 100, no. 109 A, as datable to 1731-32 and location unknown.
W.G. Constable, ed. J.G. Links, Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697-1768, Oxford, 1976, I, illus. pl. 64; II, p. 361, no. 340, as location unknown and without its earliest provenance (the painting’s connections with Sir Robert Walpole being then unknown).
J.G. Links, The Complete Paintings, St Albans, 1981, pp. 36, 44, no. 115, illus. p. 40.
A. Corboz, Canaletto, una Venezia immaginaria, Milan, 1985, p. 627, no. P205, illus.
J.G. Links, A Supplement to W.G. Constable’s Canaletto, Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697-1768, London, 1998, pp. 22-23, under no. 216(a), and p. 34, no. 340, illus. pl. 271, fig. 340.
L. Dukelskaya and A. Moore, A Capital Collection. Houghton Hall and The Hermitage, New Haven and London, 2002, pp. 23, 24, 35, 52, note 133, and Appendix VII, p. 458.
C. Beddington, in Venice. Canaletto and His Rivals, exhibition catalogue, London, 2010, pp. 169-170, illus. on p. 169, fig. 72, as datable to c. 1731-32;
C. Beddington, in Canaletto: Painting Venice. The Woburn Series, exhibition catalogue, London, 2021, pp. 90-91, note 10, and pp. 181, 183, note 12.
R. and J. Dodsley, London and its Environs described, containing An Account of whatever is most remarkable for Grandeur, Elegance, Curiosity or use, In the City and in the Country Twenty Miles round it, London, 1761, I, p. 272, as ‘Ditto, with the Doge marrying the sea. Its companion’ Height 2 feet 9 inc. Breadth 4 Feet 6 inc. [Painted by] Canaletti’.
T. Martyn, The English Connoisseur: containing an Account of Whatever is Curious in Painting, Sculpture, & c. In the Palaces and Seats of the Nobility and Principal Gentry of England, both in Town and Country, London, 1766, I, p. 12 (repeating Dodsley).
E.W. Brayley, The Beauties of England and Wales…, VII, London, 1808, p. 546, as ‘the collection of pictures evince a very judicious choice: among them is a view of Venice, and its companion, with the ceremony of the Doge marrying the Sea, by Canaletti’.
Exhibition review in The Atlas, 947, XIX, 6 July 1844, p. 456, as ‘one of the unrivalled artist’s masterpieces’.
Pictures at Belvedere, 1856, p. 3, as hanging in the Dining Room with its pendant, this one to the right of the chimneypiece [This document is known from a typescript in the library of the National Gallery, London, entitled Pictures at Belvedere 1856. Copy of a Manuscript Catalogue. The paintings by Canaletto are recorded on p. 2 of the typescript.]
G.F. Waagen, Galleries an Cabinets of Art in Great Britain, London, 1857, p. 282, as hanging in the Dining Room and described (with its pendant) as ‘Good specimens of the master’.
E.J. Climenson, Passages from the Diaries of Mrs Philip Lybbe Powys of Hardwick House, Oxon. A.D. 1756 to 1808, London, 1899, p. 150, noting that she recorded in her diary in 1771 having seen ‘two views of Venice by Canaletti’ shortly before the remodelling of Belvedere.
A. Graves, A Century of Loan Exhibitions 1813-1912, London, 1913, I, pp. 143 and 144.
V. Moschini, Canaletto, London and Milan, 1954, p. 22-26, illus. fig. 114 and pl. 16 (colour detail), as datable to circa 1730 and in the collection of Mario Crespi, Milan.
W.G. Constable, Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697-1768, Oxford, 1962, I, illus. pl. 64; II, p. 336, no. 340.
L. Puppi, L’opera completa del Canaletto, Milan, 1968, p. 100, no. 109 A, as datable to 1731-32.
L. Puppi, Tout l’oeuvre peint de Canaletto, Paris 1975, p. 100, no. 109 A, as datable to 1731-32 and location unknown.
W.G. Constable, ed. J.G. Links, Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697-1768, Oxford, 1976, I, illus. pl. 64; II, p. 361, no. 340, as location unknown and without its earliest provenance (the painting’s connections with Sir Robert Walpole being then unknown).
J.G. Links, The Complete Paintings, St Albans, 1981, pp. 36, 44, no. 115, illus. p. 40.
A. Corboz, Canaletto, una Venezia immaginaria, Milan, 1985, p. 627, no. P205, illus.
J.G. Links, A Supplement to W.G. Constable’s Canaletto, Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697-1768, London, 1998, pp. 22-23, under no. 216(a), and p. 34, no. 340, illus. pl. 271, fig. 340.
L. Dukelskaya and A. Moore, A Capital Collection. Houghton Hall and The Hermitage, New Haven and London, 2002, pp. 23, 24, 35, 52, note 133, and Appendix VII, p. 458.
C. Beddington, in Venice. Canaletto and His Rivals, exhibition catalogue, London, 2010, pp. 169-170, illus. on p. 169, fig. 72, as datable to c. 1731-32;
C. Beddington, in Canaletto: Painting Venice. The Woburn Series, exhibition catalogue, London, 2021, pp. 90-91, note 10, and pp. 181, 183, note 12.
Exhibited
London, British Institution, 1844, no. 89, as ‘Marriage of the Doge of Venice’ (lent by Lord Saye and Sele).
London, British Institution, 1861, no. 68, as ‘Doge marrying the Adriatic’ (lent by Sir Culling Eardley).
Lausanne, Les Trésors de l’Art Vénitien, 1947, no. 125 D (ex-catalogue).
London, British Institution, 1861, no. 68, as ‘Doge marrying the Adriatic’ (lent by Sir Culling Eardley).
Lausanne, Les Trésors de l’Art Vénitien, 1947, no. 125 D (ex-catalogue).
Brought to you by
Maja Markovic
Director, Head of Evening Sale