Lot 586
Property from a Private American Collection
Antonio Joli and Workshop
Modena circa 1700 - 1777 Naples
Rome, view of the Piazza del Quirinale with Castel Sant'Angelo and Saint Peter's Basilica beyond
oil on canvas
canvas: 26½ by 38 in.; 67.3 by 96.5 cm.
framed: 33½ by 45¼ in.; 85.1 by 114.9 cm.
Condition Report
Provenance
Anonymous sale ("The Property of a Lady"), London, Christie's, 5 December 1969, lot 118 (as Vanvitelli);
Where acquired by Nehmad;
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 12 January 1996, lot 146 (as Joli);
Where acquired by the present collector.
Literature
M. Manzelli, Antonio Joli: opera pittorica, Venice 1999, p. 97, cat. no. R.42;
C. Beddington, "Antonio Joli, Opera pittorica by Mario Manzelli," in Burlington Magazine 142, no. 1171 (October 2000), p. 640 (as doubtful or wrong attribution);
R. Toledano, Antonio Joli, Modena 1700 - 1777 Napoli, Torino 2006, p. 180, cat. no. R.X.4, reproduced (as Joli and Workshop).
Catalogue note
This elegant and light-filled view painting focuses on the grand edifice of the Palazzo Quirinale, the papal summer residence constructed in 1583 by Pope Gregory XIII and today one of the Italian President's three official residences. Joli and his workshop produced at least four versions of this composition, which is based on a widely-circulated print designed and etched by Gommarus Wouters and published by Domenico de' Rossi in 1692.1 Wouters's work commemorated the arrival in Rome of Prince Anton Florian of Liechtenstein. In Joli's adaptation, seen from a more distant viewpoint, the Prince and his cortege have been eliminated and only one of the Dioscuri, anchoring the composition at left, is visible. The present painting also includes a corner of the Palazzo della Consulta, only finished in 1733.
1 In addition to the current lot these include: Arrival of Alvise Mocenigo IV in Rome (Venice, Palazzo Mocenigo a San Stae, inv. no. M.127); Rome, view of the Piazza del Quirinale with Castel Sant'Angelo and Saint Peter's Basilica beyond (Yorkshire, Harewood House); Rome, view of the Piazza del Quirinale with Castel Sant'Angelo and Saint Peter's Basilica beyond (formerly Pierucci collection, Rome; sold Milan, Finarte, 11 March 1997, lot 61).