Estimate
€ 220.000 - 320.000
Aggiudicato
Current bid Starting bid
€ 210.000
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At auction on Wednesday 26 November 2025 at 18:00
Information
oil on canvas
71 x 81 cm
on the back exhibition label Comune di Venezia - Direzione Belle Arti / Mostra dei Guardi - anno 1965 / 12 and other labels
The work has been declared of important artistic and historical interest by the Ministero per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali on 17th January 1987, pursuant to law 1089/39.
The cycle plays a central role in Francesco Guardi's production, both because it marks a fixed point in terms of chronology (we are, in fact, in 1782) and because it is the first official commission obtained by the artist (when he was seventy years old) from the government of the Serenissima.
On May 21 1782, the Inspector of Fine Arts in Venice, Pietro Edwards, commissioned Guardi to create four paintings to commemorate the main episodes of the Pope's stay, giving the painter precise instructions on the subjects, as described in the archive documents relating to the commission: 1) Arrivo di S. Santità a S. Giorgio in Alga ed incontro con il Serenissimo; 2) Pontificale nella Chiesa dei SS. Giovanni e Paolo; 3) Sua Santità in atto di scendere dal trono nella sala d'udienza per incontrare il Serenissimo nell'ultima visita di congedo; 4) La benedizione al popolo nella finta loggia alla Scuola di S. Marco.
The work presented here corresponds to the third scene, depicting Pius VI's farewell to the Doge, then Paolo Renier, in the convent of the church of Saints John and Paul: a solemn procession of senators in purple togas, entering from the left, winds through the hall dominated by a large elliptical ceiling; on the sides, other dignitaries stand in succession, their lines accentuating and punctuating the depth of the room, along with the chandeliers looming glittering over the scene from above; in the background, Pius VI, beneath a high canopy, rises to receive the Doge's final homage.
By illuminating the composition with his characteristically soft and harmonious hues, Guardi manages to transform a historical representation—which risked being cold and schematic—into a sort of fantastical vision. Morassi's words are illustrative, emphasizing how Guardi "con la magia della sua arte trasfiguratrice ha vivificato ogni elemento del quadro, architettura e personaggi, e creato una visione inebbriata di luce azzurrognola iridescente in cui i rossi roboni dei dignitari appaiono come fiamme tranquille d'un incendio cromatico" (Morassi 1973, vol. I.1, p. 185).
As for the other three works from the same cycle, another version of the painting is known, almost identical in composition—except for the arrangement of some figures—but smaller in size, now held in the Cleveland Museum of Art. The excellent quality that characterizes this version (formerly Milan, Astorre Meyer collection) leads Morassi to emphasize the superiority of this example over the American one (Morassi 1973, vol. I.1, p. 185 and vol. I.2, p. 360).
71 x 81 cm
on the back exhibition label Comune di Venezia - Direzione Belle Arti / Mostra dei Guardi - anno 1965 / 12 and other labels
The work has been declared of important artistic and historical interest by the Ministero per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali on 17th January 1987, pursuant to law 1089/39.
Provenance
London, Cavendish Bentick Collection;
London, Mond Collection;
London, Lord Melchett Collection;
London, Matthiesen Collection;
Milan, Astorre Mayer collection;
Rome, The Jewish Agency for Israel;
Sotheby's Florence, 24 September 1985, lot 19;
private collection
London, Mond Collection;
London, Lord Melchett Collection;
London, Matthiesen Collection;
Milan, Astorre Mayer collection;
Rome, The Jewish Agency for Israel;
Sotheby's Florence, 24 September 1985, lot 19;
private collection
Exhibition
London, Burlington House, 1872; London, Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1894-95; London, Matthiesen Gallery, Venetian Paintings and Drawings , 1939 (n. 67); Milan, Mostra del '700 veneziano, 1955 (n. 39); Zurich, Schönheit des 18. Jahrhunderts , 1955 (n. 132); Venice, Mostra dei Guardi , 1965 (n. 143); Venice-Milan, Vedute italiane del '700 in collezioni private italiane, 1987-1988; Amsterdam, Historisch Museum, Il crepuscolo d’oro di Venezia. Un ritratto della nobiltà veneziana nel Settecento, 1991
Literature
GA Simonson, Francesco Guardi (1712-1793) , London 1904, p. 90, n. 115, ill. p. 42; G. Fiocco, Francesco Guardi , Firenze 1923, pp. 10, 44, 72; K. Erdmann, Zwei neue Historienbilder von F. Guardi , in «Pantheon», 4, November 1929, pp. 506-510; E. Arslan, Contributo a Francesco Guardi, in «Bollettino d’arte», 10, 1936, p. 441;R. Pallucchini, Il Settecento veneto a Milano, in «Arte veneta», 1955, p. 267, fig. 302; V. Moschini, Francesco Guardi , Milano 1956 (2nd ed.), p. 38; E. Martini, La pittura veneziana del ‘700, Venezia 1964, p. 280, fig. 293; R. Pallucchini, Francesco Guardi (I Maestri del Colore, n. 104), Milano 1965, plates XIV-XV;
P. Zampetti, Mostra dei Guardi , exhibition catalogue, Venezia 1965, p. 276, n. 143;
A. Morassi, Guardi. Antonio and Francesco Guardi , Venezia 1973, vol. I.1, p. 185; vol. I.2 cat. 267, pp. 359-360; vol. II.1, fig. 296;
L. Rossi Bortolatto, L'opera completa di Francesco Guardi , Milano 1974, p. 131 n. 696, ill. p. 129;
D. Succi, Francesco Guardi , Azzano Decimo 2021, vol. I, p. 222, fig. 11 p. 229.
The painting is part of an important cycle of four works dedicated to the ceremonies organised in honour of Pius VI during his stay in Venice, from 15th to 19th May 1782, on his return from his diplomatic trip to Vienna to visit Emperor Joseph II.P. Zampetti, Mostra dei Guardi , exhibition catalogue, Venezia 1965, p. 276, n. 143;
A. Morassi, Guardi. Antonio and Francesco Guardi , Venezia 1973, vol. I.1, p. 185; vol. I.2 cat. 267, pp. 359-360; vol. II.1, fig. 296;
L. Rossi Bortolatto, L'opera completa di Francesco Guardi , Milano 1974, p. 131 n. 696, ill. p. 129;
D. Succi, Francesco Guardi , Azzano Decimo 2021, vol. I, p. 222, fig. 11 p. 229.
The cycle plays a central role in Francesco Guardi's production, both because it marks a fixed point in terms of chronology (we are, in fact, in 1782) and because it is the first official commission obtained by the artist (when he was seventy years old) from the government of the Serenissima.
On May 21 1782, the Inspector of Fine Arts in Venice, Pietro Edwards, commissioned Guardi to create four paintings to commemorate the main episodes of the Pope's stay, giving the painter precise instructions on the subjects, as described in the archive documents relating to the commission: 1) Arrivo di S. Santità a S. Giorgio in Alga ed incontro con il Serenissimo; 2) Pontificale nella Chiesa dei SS. Giovanni e Paolo; 3) Sua Santità in atto di scendere dal trono nella sala d'udienza per incontrare il Serenissimo nell'ultima visita di congedo; 4) La benedizione al popolo nella finta loggia alla Scuola di S. Marco.
The work presented here corresponds to the third scene, depicting Pius VI's farewell to the Doge, then Paolo Renier, in the convent of the church of Saints John and Paul: a solemn procession of senators in purple togas, entering from the left, winds through the hall dominated by a large elliptical ceiling; on the sides, other dignitaries stand in succession, their lines accentuating and punctuating the depth of the room, along with the chandeliers looming glittering over the scene from above; in the background, Pius VI, beneath a high canopy, rises to receive the Doge's final homage.
By illuminating the composition with his characteristically soft and harmonious hues, Guardi manages to transform a historical representation—which risked being cold and schematic—into a sort of fantastical vision. Morassi's words are illustrative, emphasizing how Guardi "con la magia della sua arte trasfiguratrice ha vivificato ogni elemento del quadro, architettura e personaggi, e creato una visione inebbriata di luce azzurrognola iridescente in cui i rossi roboni dei dignitari appaiono come fiamme tranquille d'un incendio cromatico" (Morassi 1973, vol. I.1, p. 185).
As for the other three works from the same cycle, another version of the painting is known, almost identical in composition—except for the arrangement of some figures—but smaller in size, now held in the Cleveland Museum of Art. The excellent quality that characterizes this version (formerly Milan, Astorre Meyer collection) leads Morassi to emphasize the superiority of this example over the American one (Morassi 1973, vol. I.1, p. 185 and vol. I.2, p. 360).
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Condition report
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