Michele Marieschi

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 7 July 1995, lot 101;
With Richard Green Fine Paintings, London, 1996;
From whom acquired by the present owner in 1997.

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 painting is in wonderful condition. The canvas has been lined and the paint layer is still well textured. The surface is cleaned and retouched. There are hardly any retouches in the sky, except for a few spots to the left of the Campanile and on the right side of the sky. In the buildings, although there are a few tiny spots which have been retouched in the Doge's palace there are none elsewhere and it is only on the piazza itself where small retouches have been applied in any quantity.
"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."

Unrecorded in the literature, Dario Succi confirmed the attribution of the present painting to Michele Marieschi when it was sold at auction in 1995.  He dates the painting to circa 1737-1739 and plans on including it in his monograph on the artist. 

From the left, the artist has depicted the west facade of San Marco, viewed in dramatic perspective and distinguished by its elaborate columns and Gothic tracery.  In the distance, the Piazetta, columns of Saints Mark and Theodore, and the bacino are just visible.  To the left of center the Campanile rises dramatically above the Piazza, with Sansovino's small, red marble Loggetta at its base.  To the right of the Campanile stretches Procuratie Nuove, with the facade of San Geminiano just visible to the extreme right.  A few vendors have set up tents in the foreground and numerous figures mill about the Piazza, both alone and in small groups. 

Marieschi painted several versions of this composition, all with different staffage and vendor stalls in the foreground. See, for example, the work in the National Gallery of Ireland, or those in various private collections (F. Montecuccoli degli Erri and F. Pedrocco, Michele Marieschi. La vita, l'ambiente, l'opera, Milan 1999, nos. 73, 31, 108 and 109).  In 1741 Marieschi published 21 engravings of his various views of Venice under the title Urbis Venetiarum Propectus, and plate no. 12 reproduced a view of the Piazza San Marco similar to the present painting but with a procession and banners fluttering on the poles.