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Procession of Gondolas in the Bacino di San Marco, Venice
Antonio Joli1742 or after
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Washington, DC, United States
Details
- Title: Procession of Gondolas in the Bacino di San Marco, Venice
- Creator: Antonio Joli
- Date Created: 1742 or after
- Physical Dimensions: overall: 160.7 x 221.6 cm (63 1/4 x 87 1/4 in.) framed: 181.6 x 239.7 cm (71 1/2 x 94 3/8 in.)
- 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.
- Rights: CC0
- Medium: oil on canvas
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