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Lot Essay
The Redentore, the masterpiece of ecclesiastical architecture by Andrea Palladio, was built by the Venetian Senate in 1577-92 in fulfilment of a vow made on the deliverance of the city from the devastating plague of 1575-6. The Doge and Senators also promised to visit the church annually in perpetuity; in their annual pilgrimage, the dignitaries processed across a temporary causeway over the Giudecca canal on the third Sunday of July, giving rise to the Festa del Redentore, a major Venetian festival.
The present painting is closely related to two other views of the Redentore: that sold at Christie's, London, 13 December 1996, lot 81, and another once in the Neave Collection, sold (with a pendant) at Christie's, London, 9 December 1988, lot 40. Of identical sizes, the three pictures and the following lot are so similar in style that they must have been executed at the same date, probably after Canaletto's arrival in England in May 1746. In the present painting the church is seen from the right side of its central axis and is lit from the left, while in the other two compositions it is viewed from the left side and the foreground is dominated by an almost identical ship's prow. A moored ship is also a prominent feature of all three of Canaletto's other views of the Redentore (W.G. Constable, Canaletto, 2nd ed. revised by J.G. Links, 1989, nos. 16, 318* and 318**, pls 59, 203 and 236).
The present painting is closely related to two other views of the Redentore: that sold at Christie's, London, 13 December 1996, lot 81, and another once in the Neave Collection, sold (with a pendant) at Christie's, London, 9 December 1988, lot 40. Of identical sizes, the three pictures and the following lot are so similar in style that they must have been executed at the same date, probably after Canaletto's arrival in England in May 1746. In the present painting the church is seen from the right side of its central axis and is lit from the left, while in the other two compositions it is viewed from the left side and the foreground is dominated by an almost identical ship's prow. A moored ship is also a prominent feature of all three of Canaletto's other views of the Redentore (W.G. Constable, Canaletto, 2nd ed. revised by J.G. Links, 1989, nos. 16, 318* and 318**, pls 59, 203 and 236).