Studio of Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Il CANALETTO (Venice 1697 – 1768)

An Architectural Capriccio with figures amongst ruins

oil on canvas
88 x 92 cm. (34⅝ x 36¼ in.)

Price: Price on Application

Provenance:
Capt. C.L.H. Loeffler (1876 – 1963), London, by c. 1933; and by descent to
Lady Margaret Gretton, Stapleford Park, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire; and by descent to
Lord Gretton, Stapleford Park, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. Private Collection, U.K.

This bright, sunny capriccio is a version of one of Canaletto’s most popular compositions. At right is a partially ruined canopy with Gothic arches, in front of which sits a sarcophagus surmounted by a statue of a seated woman. Next to it is a statue of a lion, and several figures examining the ruins. Beyond the portico, we can see ruins and a domed Classical building in the background. At left is a pool, and in the centre of the composition a structure based on the Porta Ponte Corvo in Padua. In the distance, other structures appear to be based on the Salone; the domes of Santa Giustina; and the campanile of Santa Guistina (left to right).

The principle version of the subject by Canaletto himself is in Kunsthalle Hamburg (Constable & Links no. 496), while several smaller autograph and studio versions are recorded in the literature (C&L, vol. II, pp. 457-58). In design and in some of the motifs this capriccio can be compared to a drawing at Windsor (fig. 1; C&L no. 814).

Stapleford Park, near Melton Mowbray, was from 1894 the seat of the Gretton family, later Barons Gretton.