Venice: San Giorgio Maggiore, the Giudecca beyond

Details

Michele Marieschi (Venice 1696-1743)
Venice: San Giorgio Maggiore, the Giudecca beyond
oil on canvas
22 3/8 x 33 ¾ in. (56.9 x 85.8 cm.)

Provenance

(Probably) Commissioned for Henry Howard, 4th Earl of Carlisle, via Consul Joseph Smith, for the Canaletto Room at Castle Howard, Yorkshire, and by descent to the following.
The Hon. Geoffrey W. A. Howard, Castle Howard, Yorkshire; (†), Christie's, London, 18 February 1944, lot 10, as 'Canaletto' (140 gns., with a companion piece, to the following.)
with David M. Koetser, New York.
Mrs G. A. F. Wills, London, 1966; (†), Christie's, London, 25 November 1966, lot 30, as 'Marieschi' (4000 gns., as a set of four).
with Agnew's, London.

Literature

D. Succi, Marieschi / Tra Canaletto e Guardi, Torino, 1989, pp. 112 and 117-120, fig. 113.
R. Toledano, Michele Marieschi, Milan, 1995, p. 127, no. V.47.
F. Montecuccoli degli Erri and F. Pedrocco, Michele Marieschi. La vita, l'ambiente, l'opera, Milan, 1999, pp. 241-243, no. 21.

Exhibited

London, Walpole Gallery, Venetian Baroque and Rococo Paintings, 1990, no. 39.

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Lot Essay

Like the preceding lot, this picture formed part of the remarkable assemblage of views of Venice by Canaletto, Bellotto and Marieschi which were acquired by the 4th Earl of Carlisle for Castle Howard. The view corresponds with that listed in the schedule of pictures supplied to the 4th Earl (Castle Howard Mss, J14/ 31/ 2):

‘3 Veduta dell’ Isola di S. Giorgio Maggiore con La punta della Giudecca’

The Island of San Giorgio Maggiore is here taken from the Bacino di San Marco in front of the Customs House or Dogana. On the right can be seen the tip of the island of the Giudecca with the Campanile of the now-destroyed church of San Giovanni Battista. Dominating the centre of the composition, with its façade bathed in sunlight, is San Giorgio Maggiore, designed by Andrea Palladio and built between 1559 and 1568.

Toledano (op. cit., p. 127) considers this picture to be a development of Marieschi’s engraving of the Piazzetta (R. Toledano, op. cit., p. 66, no. V. 9), in which San Giorgio Maggiore can be seen in the distance, but notes that the composition is ultimately based on a work, dated 1723, by Hendrik Frans van Lint (private collection; see A. Busiri Vici, Peter, Hendrik e Giacomo Van Lint, Tre pittori di Anversa del ‘600 e ‘700 lavorano a Roma, Rome, 1987, p. 157, no. 182).

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