Skip to Main Content

Provenance

Possibly Cardinal Gianfrancesco Stopani [d. 1774], Rome; by inheritance to Marchese Schiuchinelli, Cremona; Giuseppe Castagna and Felice Ponzio, 1836.[1] Lady Mary Baillie of Polkemmet, née Stewart [d. 1910];[2] Admiral Johnston Stewart of Polkemmet, perhaps nephew of preceding; (Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 21 June 1912, no. 140);[3] bought by C. H. Thrift[4] for (Arthur Tooth and Sons, 1912);[5] sold 14 July 1925 to Viscount Gabriel Chabert.[6] (Arnold Seligmann, London), early 1930s; sold to Barbara Hutton; gift 1945 to NGA.[7]

Exhibition History

1989
Extended loan for use by Secretary Clayton Yeutter, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., 1989-1991.
1991
Old Master Italian Paintings, Prints and Drawings, Yellowstone Art Center, Billings, Montana, 1991, mentioned in brochure.
1998
Il Mondo di Giacomo Casanova: Un Veneziano in Europa 1725-1798 [The World of Giacomo Casanova: A Venetian in Europe 1725-1798], Museo del Settecento Veneziano - Ca'Rezzonico, Venice, 1998-1999, no. 7, repro., as by Antonio Joli and Gaspare Diziani.
2002
Officina Veneziani. Maestri e Botteghe nella Venezia del Settecento, Centro Culturale Sant'Agostino, Cremona, 2002, no. 27, repro., as Attributed to Antonio Joli and Gaspare Diziani.
2008
Canaletto: Venezia e i suoi splendori, Casa dei Carraresi, Treviso, 2008-2009, no. 60, repro.
2010
Venice: Canaletto and His Rivals, The National Gallery, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2010-2011, no. 35, repro., as The Courtyard of the Doge's Palace with the Apostolic Nuncio Monsignor Giovanni Francesco Stoppani and Senators in Procession, 17 April 1741 (shown only in Washington).
2017
Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth-Century Europe, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Minneapolis Institute of Art; Cleveland Museum of Art, 2017-2018, fig. 25.

Technical Summary

The support is a plain-weave, loosely woven fabric prepared with a red-brown ground visible at the edges and through abrasion of the paint layer. A white underlayer was used beneath the architecture and sky. Infrared reflectography reveals fine, precise underdrawing for the perspective and architectural details, probably executed with the aid of a straightedge. Incised lines were also used in the architecture. The sky was painted first and then the successive layers of architecture. The figures were added over the already completed background. The paint was applied quickly wet-into-wet and is moderately thick throughout. Glazes were added for detail.

The tacking margins have been removed, but strong cusping is present around all four sides. There is abrasion throughout as well as losses. Several losses are concentrated in a 40 x 40 cm area at the right. Traction crackle is present especially in the dark glazes. The varnish is discolored with markedly discolored patches in the sky. The painting, which was lined at an unknown date, has not been treated since acquisition.

Bibliography

1925
Brinton, Selwyn. Venice Past and Present. London, 1925: repro. 48, as by Canaletto.
1962
Constable, William George. Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697-1768. 2 vols. Oxford, 1962: 2:216, no. 83a (rejects all connection to Canaletto or his school).
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 15, repro.
1972
Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972: 43, as School of Canaletto.
1972
Pignatti, Terisio. "La gondola del legato papale nella pittura veneziana del settecento." Arte Illustrata 48 (1972): 156-157, fig. 1, as Circle of Marieschi.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 54, repro., as by Follower of Canaletto.
1976
Constable and Links 1976, 2:224-225, no. 83a (rejects all connection to Canaletto or his school).
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:108; 2:pl. 74, as Follower of Canaletto, with reservations.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 74, repro., as by Follower of Canaletto.
1994
Succi, Dario. "Que la fête continue: ospiti illustri e feste straordinarie nelle vedute da Carlevarijs a Guardi." In Luca Carlevarijs e la veduta veneziana del Settecento. Exh. cat. Palazzo della Ragione, Padua, 1994: 59, 81-85, color repro. 83.
1996
De Grazia, Diane, and Eric Garberson, with Edgar Peters Bowron, Peter M. Lukehart, and Mitchell Merling. Italian Paintings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 334-340, repro. 336.

Related Content

  • Sort by:
  • Results layout:
Show  results per page
The image compare list is empty.