Apollonio Facchinetti, called Domenichini, formerly known as the Master of the Langmatt Foundation Views

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 10 December 2003, lot 49, where acquired.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work has an old lining. The stretcher is old if not original. The paint layer is stable, clean and varnished. Under ultraviolet light, one can see retouches in the lower right sky and in the upper right. The darkest colors in the side of the Colosseum have received retouches addressing some thinness, and the wall in the lower right has also been retouched slightly. The lighter colors of the architecture have fared very well. Although there are a few retouches, the work is very presentable in its current condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This is the only known view of Rome by Apollonio Domenichini, and the only known dated work by him. The design is based on Canaletto's drawing from 1720 in the British Museum London (fig. 1). Though Domenichini is not known to have traveled to Rome, he would have known Canaletto's drawing from his time in the master's workshop in the 1740s. The date of 1746 on the archway is in the same place as where Canaletto dated the drawing AUGUSTO x 1720. It is tempting to think that Apollonio painted the work specifically to sell to a Grand Tourist in Venice as a souvenir, perhaps as a contrasting pendant to a view of Venice.

Domenichini made several changes to Canaletto's design: the viewpoint is lowered, the architecture seen through the arch has been simplified, the wall to the left is extended, and the height of the Colosseum in relation to the arch has been lowered. Apart from the muleteer under the arch, the staffage is entirely different and reminiscent of Canaletto's figures from the 1740s, when the work was painted.