CIRCLE OF GIOVANNI ANTONIO CANAL, CALLED CANALETTO | Venice, the Molo looking west with the Palazzo Ducale and Santa Maria della Salute

By descent in the collection of the present owner's family since at least the 19th century.

The canvas is lined, the paint surface is dirty and the varnish is thick and very discoloured. Old discoloured retouchings are visible through the sky disguising the network of craquelure, and another horizontal line of retouching is visible to an old, superficial scratch 5 cm. long lower centre. The thick varnish makes it very difficult to discern any further intervention but there appears to be little more than the aforementioned visible retouchings. In overall good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The composition is closely based upon an original picture by Canaletto recorded by Constable and Links in the Spencer Loch collection in London, and now in a private collection.¹ We are grateful to Charles Beddington, who has studied this picture at first hand, for suggesting that this painting is the work of an artist he has called the Bateman Master, a close associate or studio assistant of Canaletto's who painted versions of this composition among others for Lord Bateman in the 1730s. He plans to include the Bateman Master and other hands active in the Canaletto studio in a future article.

1 W.G. Constable and J.G. Links, Canaletto, Oxford 1989, vol. II, pp. 229–30, no. 30, and Supplement, London 1998, p. 10, no. 93, reproduced pl. 232.