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Home>Collection>Procession of Gondolas in the Bacino di San Marco, Venice

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]

[1] According to Stefano Ticozzi, Lettera intorno a due quadri di vaste dimensioni di Antonio Canal, detto il Canaletto (Milan, 1836), quoted in W. G. Constable, Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697-1768, 2nd ed. revised by J. G. Links, 2 vols., Oxford, 1976: 371. It has not been possible to locate this publication. Ticozzi called the dimensions "vast," but gave them as only 32 x 45 pollici. A pollice could be an approximate measurement, a unit roughly equal to 2.5 cm, or more commonly another term for oncia, the twelfth part of one piede. In Milan the oncia was equal to c. 3.63 cm. Thus Ticozzi's measurements would convert to either c. 80 x 112 cm or most likely c. 116 x 163 cm, both smaller than the present painting and its companion, and not exactly vast.

It is possible that the paintings Ticozzi saw were not by Canaletto, for as a Milanese writing in 1836, he may well have had less than full knowledge of Canaletto's style. On the correlation between the present works and Ticozzi's identification of the subjects as Stopani's visit to Venice see the discussion in the text.

Martha Hepworth of the Getty Provenance Index found no information about Schiuchinelli, Castagna, or Ponzio (letter of 12 April 1993, NGA curatorial files).

[2] Francis J. B. Watson (letter of 26 May 1954, NGA curatorial files) reported the following notation on the back of an old photograph in his possession: "1912 June 21, B/O C. H. Thrift SUgns (1/2 Scott) collection: Lady Baillie of Polkemmet; 1919 August 22 Bt 1/2 from McKay's exors LTT; 1925 July 14 Sold to Viscount Gabriel Chabert for LFUXX" (with 5829/6997, here 1945.15.2).

[3] Martha Hepworth of the Getty Provenance Index (letter of 2 June 1987, NGA curatorial files) discovered in the Christie's files that the paintings sold anonymously in 1912 were the property of Admiral Johnston Stewart; the admiral may have been a nephew of Lady Baillie's, whose mother was Margaret Johnston (letter of 15 March 1993 from Martha Hepworth, NGA curatorial files).

[4] Art Prices Current 5 (1911-1912): 500, and marginal notations in the NGA copy of the sale catalogue.

[5] The stock records of Tooth and Sons indicate that the painting was purchased from Thrift on 21 June 1912, as reported by Martha Hepworth (letter cited in note 3). He may have been acting as Tooth's agent at that day's sale. The stock records also confirm that the notations reported in note 2 reflect the sale of half-shares in the pictures.

[6] According to the notations reported by Watson in note 2 and the Tooth stock records as reported by Martha Hepworth in note 3.

[7] W. G. Constable (letter of 1 March 1946, NGA curatorial files) reported that he had seen the paintings in London at Arnold Seligmann's, who sold them to Barbara Hutton.

Exhibition History

1991
Old Master Italian Paintings, Prints and Drawings, Yellowstone Art Center, Billings, Montana, 1991, color repro. in brochure.
1993
Extended loan for use by Secretary Mike Espy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., 1993-1994.
2002
Officina Veneziani. Maestri e Botteghe nella Venezia del Settecento, Centro Culturale Sant'Agostino, Cremona, 2002, no. 26, repro., as Attributed to Antonio Joli and Gaspare Diziani.
2008
Canaletto: Venezia e i suoi splendori, Casa dei Carraresi, Treviso, 2008-2009, no. 59, repro.
2010
From La Serenissima to the Eternal City: The Grand Tour in 18th Century Venice and Rome, The Mitchell Gallery, St. John's College, Annapolis, 2010, no catalogue.
2010
Venice: Canaletto and His Rivals, The National Gallery, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2010-2011, no. 34, repro., as The Bacino di San Marco and the Molo with the Formal Entrance of the Apostolic Nuncio Monsignor Giovanni Francesco Stoppani, 17 April 1741.

Technical Summary

The support is a plain-weave, loosely woven fabric identical to that of the companion painting. This canvas was also prepared with a red-brown ground visible at the edges and through abrasion of the paint layer. A white underlayer was used to prepare the architecture and sky. Unlike the companion piece, no underdrawing can be detected using infrared reflectography, nor are incised lines apparent in the architecture. The sky was painted first, then the successive layers of architecture, and finally the sea and gondolas. As in the companion painting, 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, and the "crawling" effect visible in the other painting is less evident here.

The tacking margins have been removed, but strong cusping is present around all four sides. There is abrasion throughout as well as losses. 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. It was examined in 1991.

Bibliography

1925
Brinton, Selwyn. Venice Past and Present. London, 1925: repro. 47, as by Canaletto.
1962
Constable, William George. Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697-1768. 2 vols. Oxford, 1962: 2:346, no. 358 (rejects all connection to Canaletto or his school).
1964
Pignatti, Terisio. Disegni veneti del settecento nel Museo Correr di Venezia. Exh. cat. Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, 1964: 64, as tentatively attributed to Antonio Stom.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 22, as by Follower of Canaletto.
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, 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, 2:371, no. 358 (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: 1:108-109; 2:pl. 74, as possibly by Follower of Canaletto.
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. 82.
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. 337.

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