Giacomo Quarenghi

The top and bottom edges of the sheet are uneven. The sheet is discoloured in line with age and covered in a layer of surface dirt with minor spots and stains. The sheet is attached to the mount in two places at the top edge. There are some minor areas of scattered foxing and some stray, minor scratches and abrasions to the surface. Held in a black painted wooden frame with mat behind glass. Unexamined out of frame.
"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."

This exceptional group of eleven designs by Giacomo Quarenghi were recently discovered and extracted from a leather-bound album of drawings by various artists, principally of theatre designs by Alessandro Sanquirico (1777–1849) who worked at the Scala of Milan at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Palladian architect Quarenghi was the most celebrated in Imperial Russia under Catherine the Great, officially being appointed court architect to the Empress not long after arriving in St Petersburg from Italy in 1779. His first high profile commission was the English Palace in Peterhof. Other celebrated examples of his work are Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo, the Hermitage Theatre and the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens in St Petersburg. He produced a large number of designs for the Empress and her court during the two decades he spent in Russia.

Count Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev (1751-1809) was a major Russian collector and patron of the arts as well as a philanthropist who founded and gave his name to the hospital in Moscow for which Quarenghi designed a colonnade. The architect also designed his house in St Petersburg where he lived with his wife Praskovia Ivanovna Kovaliova (1768-1803) who had been an actress.

We are grateful to Emmanuel Ducamp for providing additional cataloguing information.