(Venice 1721–1757)
The Grand Canal with San Simeone Piccolo, the church of the Scalzi and Santa Croce, Venice,
oil on canvas, 61 x 97 cm, framed

Provenance:
with Mitchell Fine Paintings, London, 1951;
Art market, Genoa;
Private European collection;
where acquired by the present owner

We are grateful to Bozena Anna Kowalczyck for confirming the attribution of the present painting (written communication).

We are also grateful to Dario Succi for independently confirming the attribution.

The present painting is typical of the production of Francesco Albotto who was apprenticed to Michele Marieschi and whose studio he took over following his master’s premature death in 1744. This work portrays one of the most frequently represented Venetian view subjects: the beginning of the Grand Canal. On the right side in the foreground, the high façade of the church of Santa Maria degli Scalzi is shown, alongside this reaching towards the church of Santa Lucia are a series of buildings, which were demolished in the nineteenth century to make way for the Venezia Santa Lucia railway station. The opposite side is dominated by the dome of the church of San Simione Piccolo with its classic temple front entrance while in the distance we can make out the church of Santa Croce, that was also demolished in the nineteenth century.

The prototype for this composition was painted by Canaletto in 1726-27 for his patron Consul Smith, and this work is now preserved in the British Royal Collection; it was reproduced in an engraving by Antonio Visentini in the celebrated series Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum first issued in 1735. Michele Marieschi also represented this view from the same angle in several paintings, and an engraving of 1741-42 published in the album Magnificentiores Selectioresque Urbis Venetiarum Prospectus wherein Canaletto’s perspective is slightly dilated.

In the present painting Albotto reveals his great familiarity and dependence upon his master’s paintings, rather than his printed view, which shows more and differing types of shipping in the foreground. Indeed, this painting is especially close to two views by Marieschi, one in a private collection which is slightly smaller (53.5 x 82.5 cm; see D. Succi, Marieschi. Opera completa, Treviso 2016, pp. 299–302) than that under discussion. The present view is taken from a somewhat more distant point of perspective, thus conferring greater monumentality upon the buildings, while the distribution of shipping in the foreground, including the luxurious burchiello is similar; the conceit of two gondolas head-to-head however is closer to a second painting of this subject by Marieschi which is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The vibrant touch of the brush with which the buildings and lively coloured figures are described here, demonstrate Albotto’s complete assimilation of his master, Marieschi’s manner. The bright light that pervades the present painting creating a serene and balanced atmosphere is instead a clear reference to the influence of Canaletto.