THE SPLENDOUR OF VENICE
IMPORTANT FURNITURE AND OLD MASTER PAINTINGS
FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
THE WORD VENICE is, to many, evocative of grand canals and sleepy backwaters, lined
with the facades of beautiful palazzi. What lies behind those facades, however, often remains a
mystery. Sotheby’s sale, the Splendour of Venice, to be held in London on Tuesday July 6,
2010, allows a glimpse into the dazzlingly beautiful world that existed inside some of
Venice’s most splendid palazzi during some of the most prosperous and charmed years of the
Venetian Republic.
The sale will consist of some 64 fine examples of Venetian painting and craftsmanship from
the 17th and 18th centuries, put together over some 30 years by a private European family in
order to adorn their palazzo in the Veneto region. Chosen for their quality and enduring
beauty, the pieces in the sale summarise the qualities that characterise “Venetian style”. In the
introduction to Sotheby’s catalogue for the sale, historian Roberto Valeriani writes: “Venetian
style owes its distinctiveness to the gifted artisans of the city, but also to an innate sense of the
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luminous that brings precious materials to life. Anyone who has gazed on the frescoes, the furnishings
and the plasterwork in the palaces along the Grand Canal knows that they are illuminated at certain
times of day as light is reflected off the water into their interiors to create changeable, rippling effects.”
The luminous and sensual qualities that
characterise the finest Venetian paintings of
the Baroque era are amply demonstrated in
two beautiful paintings by Antonio Balestra
(1666-1740): Flora (lot 109) and An Allegory of
Wealth or Fortune (lot 110), both estimated at
£150,000-200,000. These paintings once
adorned the ceilings of adjacent rooms in one
of the most celebrated Baroque palaces in
Venice – the Palazzo Zenobio. Purchased by
the Zenobio family in 1664, the previously
Gothic building was completely renovated
in the Baroque style by the leading
Venetian architects, designers and painters
of the day. “Suffused with a rich, almost
sensual luminosity that enhances the
majestic, eternal aura of their mythological
subjects” (Valeriani), Balestra’s paintings
would have been the perfect adornments
for one of the most glorious Baroque
showpieces in the city.
Balestra’s works are complemented in the sale
by another magnificent painting from a similar
date. Painted circa 1666, Antonio Zanchi’s
magnificent The Family of Darius before Alexander
once hung in the first floor gallery of the
Palazzo Fini – until recently the Grand Hotel –
in Venice. A. Riccoboni, a leading authority on
Zanchi and Venetian art of the 17th century,
described the painting as one of “the most
beautiful and sumptuous” of Zanchi’s works.
Lot 125 in the sale, the painting is estimated at
£150,000-200,000.
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With the advent of the Grand Tour,
Venetian artists adeptly turned to viewpainting
in order to satisfy the everincreasing
demand for paintings by
which their beautiful city could be
remembered. One such painting, (lot
107, A view of the Grand Canal Looking
North-East with the Churches of Santa
Lucia and the Scalzi) by Apollinion
Domenichini, provides an alternative
view of the Grand Canal - looking
across, not from the usual standpoint,
but instead towards the now no longer
extant Church of Santa Lucia. Estimated at £80,000-£100,000, this evocative work beautifully
records a lost time and place.
Just as its painters drew heavily on the lapis lazuli and exotic pigments made available to
them by their city’s tradings with the East, so too Venetian craftsmen and furniture makers
drew on the materials and techniques they encountered thanks to their contact with the East.
Though many of their names are unrecorded, Venetian craftsmen of the 17th and 18th centuries
were nonetheless masters of their art – be it in the production of furniture, glass, velvets and
silks, lacquered goods inlaid with mother of pearl and pietre dure, or maiolica inspired by
Turkish wares and porcelain. Much of the furniture in the sale reflects the diversity of media
which characterises Venetian craftsmanship. At the same time, the majority of the pieces in
the collection date from the Rococo period, the style of which, with its lightness, airiness and
sinuosity, is in many ways perfectly matched to place from which the pieces emanate.
Showing the Venetian rococo at
its very best, a magnificent carved
giltwood console table from c.
1740 represents the apogee of
Venetian carving at the time.
Across the stretcher is beautiful
scene showing Narcissus gazing
at his reflection in a pool – an
apposite aquatic motif for a
Venetian setting. There are no
other recorded examples of tables
of the period featuring such a
scene, and the superlative quality
of the carving and gilding suggest
that this piece was an important
commission for grand and
sumptuous Venetian palazzo. (lot108, est: £120,000-200,000).
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Also superbly executed is a carved walnut bureau
cabinet from the third quarter of the 18th century (lot
116). Estimated at £150,000-250,000, this beautiful
piece ranks as one of the best surviving examples of
its kind. Bureau cabinets were often the most
important pieces of furniture in the homes of the
wealthy Venetians. While those commissioned for
the suburban villas were often lacquered or
decorated to simulate lacquer, the finest examples,
which are found in the most important palaces on
the lagoon, were veneered in burr walnut,
highlighted with parcel-gilt carved elements and
engraved mirrors, like this.
Within the palaces that line the
canals, mirrors were essential to
drawing in the ever-changing
reflections of light that played
across the water outside. Inspired
by their contact with the East,
Venetian craftsmen were
particularly bold and imaginative
in the range and style of pieces
they produced. Often executed in
red or black lacquer, in real or
simulated tortoiseshell, or in faux
marble, mirror surrounds provide
an excellent compendium of the
many skills in which Venetian
craftsmen excelled. Estimated at
£150,000-200,000, a beautifully
carved and painted giltwood and
faux marble mirror from the mid
18th-century displays Venetian
versatility at its best (lot 120). This
is complemented by another
beautifully carved example (lot 5)
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from c. 1730. Embellished with blackamoors, eagles, scallopshells, gadroons, scrolls, flowers
and leaves, this sumptuous piece, at once restrained and flamboyant, is estimated at £60,000-
100,000.
The sale is also
rich in a variety of
armchairs and
sofas of the
period. Highlights
include a set of six
red and yellow
lacquered
armchairs from
the mid 18th
century (lot 117),
estimated at
£100,000-120,000. With their sinuous lines, embellished with scroll motifs, rocaille and
cartouches, these splendid chairs typify the Venetain rococo style. They are accompanied by a
matching sofa (lot 18), with which they share the same ‘a merletto’ decoration – a type of
decoration that is extremely rare and which has not been recorded on any seat furniture other
than these pieces.
From the same period is a pair of rococo blue lacquered and parcel-gilt armchairs (lot 101, est:
£35,000-50,000) and a blue lacquered and parcel-gilt sofa (lot 102, est: £45,000-70,000). Finally,
the sale includes a sumptuously decorated pair of ivory painted carved armchairs (lot 129,
est: £50,000-80,000), which, though made c.1730 during the Rococo period, still, in both their
form and the manner of their carving, echo the style of 17th-century.
