LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil on canvas

Measurements:

23.31 in. (59.20 cm.) (height) by 44.09 in. (112.00 cm.) (width)

Markings:

signed and dated 'GVW MDCCXXII' (on barge, lower left)

Literature:

G. Briganti, Gaspar van Wittel (ed. L. Laureati, L. Trezzani, Milan, 1996), cat. n. 331, pp. 253, 254, ill. (as Gaspar van Wittel) The signature seems to be of the period if the painting and it is possible that Vanvitelli could have highlighted certain elements of the painting and signed the canvas before it left his studio. The present view depicts the Canonica di Vaprio on the River Adda and the Villa Melzi, where Leonardo da Vinci dwelled whilst working for Ludovico il Moro on the project of the Naviglio di Paderno, part of which can be seen in the picture, before the villa. The work relates to an autograph drawing by Vanvitelli, probably taken during the artist's first stay in Lombardy in the 1690s and to various oil versions, which date between 1717 and 1723. We are grateful to Laura Laureati for kindly confirming that the present painting is a studio work, based on a colour photograph.~

Provenance:

Sale, Christie's, London, 14 October 1949, lot 128 (as Gaspar van Wittel)