The Campo di SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice
Bernardo Bellotto·1743/1747
Historical Context
Bellotto's Campo di SS. Giovanni e Paolo from 1743-47 depicts one of Venice's most important civic and religious spaces — the broad square before the great Gothic church of Saints Giovanni and Paolo (Zanipolo) that housed the monuments of the doges and dominated the eastern half of the city. The square contained the equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni (by Verrocchio) that was one of the most celebrated bronzes in Europe, and Bellotto's view documents both the architectural ensemble and the daily life of Venetians in the square. This work was painted during his last Italian years before his move to the Dresden court in 1747.
Technical Analysis
Bellotto's oil on canvas renders the Venetian architecture with sharp, crystalline precision and a slightly cooler tonality than his uncle Canaletto's work, presaging the distinctive clarity that would characterize his later Central European views.
Provenance
Hon. Marmaduke Constable-Maxwell [1806-1872], Terregles, Dumfriesshire (sale, Christie's, London, 1 March 1873, no. 132);[1] purchased by William Ward, 1st earl of Dudley [1817-1885, created earl 1860], Dudley House, London; (sale, Christie's, London, 25 June 1892, no. 51);[2] purchased by (Agnew's, London);[3] sold later the same year to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA. [1] Described in the sale catalogue as "From the collections of Mr. Wakeman and Lord Exeter" and accompanied by lot 133, "The Piazza San Marco, Venice, with numerous figures the companion." The latter painting was purchased by Agnew's, London, sold later the same year to Kirkman Hodgson, M.P., and remains untraced. [2] Reitlinger (Reitlinger, Gerald, _The Economics of Taste: The Rise and Fall of Picture Prices 1760-1960_, London, 1961: 225) commented that the price paid for the painting by the earl of Dudley, £3,360, was enormous for the time. [3] The painting was purchased from Agnew's by John G. Johnson, either buying for Widener or for himself and selling it to Widener shortly afterward (information from Agnew's via The Getty Provenance Index).
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