Old Master & 19th Century Paintings Day Auction
Old Master & 19th Century Paintings Day Auction
Property from an Esteemed European Collection
Giuseppe Bernardino Bison
Venice, a pair of views: The departure of the Bucintoro; The Doge on the Bucintoro departs San Nicolò al Lido
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from an Esteemed European Collection
Giuseppe Bernardino Bison
Palmanova 1762–1844 Milan
Venice, a pair of views: The departure of the Bucintoro; The Doge on the Bucintoro departs San Nicolò al Lido
a pair, both oil on canvas
one unframed: 31 x 41.7 cm.; 12¼ x 16⅜ in.
framed: 44.4 x 55 cm.; 17½ x 21⅝ in.
the other unframed: 31.3 x 41.9 cm.; 12⅜ x 16½ in.
framed: 44.5 x 55.2 cm.; 17½ x 21¾ in.
(2)
With De Jonckheere, Paris;
Where acquired by the present owners in 2002.
In his execution of this vibrant pair of oils, Giuseppe Bernardino Bison, following in the footsteps of Luca Carlevarijs (1663–1730),1 Canaletto (1697–1768) and Francesco Guardi (1712–1793),2 depicts a quintessentially Venetian tradition: the Ascension Day ceremony of the Bucintoro. Every year, the majestic state barge – visible across both of the present paintings in all of its crimson glory – carried the Doge out into the Adriatic Sea to perform the Sposalizio del Mare. This symbolic marriage between the water and the city of Venice, which required the Doge to cast a golden ring into the sea, symbolised La Serenissima's unique connection with the lagoon and commemorated the Republic's maritime victories.
A comparable pair of paintings by Bison, slightly smaller in size, were with Jean-Luc Baroni, London, in 2013.3
1 See, for instance, the grand picture by Carlevarijs in the Getty Museum, Los Angeles: object no. 86.PA.600; oil on canvas, 134.8 x 259.4 cm.; https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103RKB.
2 A superb treatment of this subject by Canaletto is today in the Royal Collection, London: inv. no. RCIN 404417; oil on canvas, 76.8 x 125.4 cm.; https://www.rct.uk/collection/search#/32/collection/404417/the-bacino-di-san-marco-on-ascension-day. An example by Guardi is in the Musée du Louvre, Paris: inv. no. 20009, oil on canvas, 66 x 101 cm.; https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010062245.
3Giuseppe Bernardino Bison: Views and Capricci in oil and gouache from Private Collections, exh. cat., London 2013, n.p., nos 1–2, both works reproduced in colour.
