David Roberts, R.A. (1796-1864)

Interior of San Giovanni e San Paolo, Venice

Details

David Roberts, R.A. (1796-1864)
Interior of San Giovanni e San Paolo, Venice
signed and dated 'David Roberts. RA. 1851.' (lower right) and inscribed 'Venice Oct^.. 18^t^.. 1851' (lower left)
pencil and watercolour, heightened with bodycolour, on grey paper
12 7/8 x 21 in. (32.7 x 53.3 cm.)

Provenance

Sotheby's London, 15 June 1960, lot 73.

Exhibited

London, The Fine Art Society, April 1964, no. 5.

Sale room notice

Please note that this watercolour is not of San Giovanni e San Paolo; it depicts the right transept of the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa called the Frari, in Venice.
Begun in 1330, the Frari, the largest church in Venice, contains two of Titian's greatest pictures (the Assumption and the Virgin of the Pesaro Family), as well as Titian's own tomb. It also contains splendid sculptures and tombs. The watercolour shows some of the finest monuments, in the right transept: the equestrian sculpture is a monument to the Roman condottiere Paolo Savelli (c. 1405); over the elegant architectural portal leading to the sacristy is the memorial to Benedetto Pesaro (d. 1503); beside it is the Gothic teracotta tomb of Beato Pacifico by Nanni di Bartolo and Michele da Firenze. Further to the right is the tomb of Iacopo Marcello (d. 1484), a Renaissance work attributed to Giovanni Buora.

Lot Essay

Roberts executed a number of views of San Giovanni e San Paolo on his visit to Venice in 1851. He exhibited an oil painting of a View of the High Altar, SS Giovanni e Paolo at the Royal Academy in 1858, no. 220, now in the Manchester City Art Gallery, and an Interior of SS Giovanni e Paolo in 1861, no. 250.
Also known as San Zanipolo, San Giovanni e San Paolo is a Gothic building, built by the Dominicans (1234-1430). This vast church, considered one of the most important churches in the city, is the pantheon of Venice, containing tombs of many of the doges.

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