Probably Private Collection, Paris ('Madame de X');
By whom sold Modave Sale, Paris, Galerie Charpentier, 12 June 1936, lot 8;
M. James Adolphe Yuan Amez-Droz (d. 1976);
Thence by descent to the present owner.

Probably J.W. Goodison and G.H. Robertson, Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge. Catalogue of Paintings, vol. II, Italian Schools, Cambridge 1967, p. 73, n. 9.

The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has an old lining and stretcher. The texture and impasto has been rather smoothed over generally, but nevertheless the vivid flicks of white lead in the detailed brushwork of the foreground gondoliers are magnificently strong and intact. The entire lower area of the water, the island and the gondolas is in exceptionally good condition, with fine flowing liquid strokes and rich unworn colour even in the dark hulls of the gondolas, and delicate detail of the figures. Only in the sky, as so often, has there been some wear. The present restoration is probably from the mid twentieth century, with occasional older patches of retouching in the sky in places. Two little quite recent retouchings on the horizon to the left are fairly crude, as are some touches in the central flags. Occasional minor small touches are scattered over the sky and at the upper edges. There are however no accidental damages at all, and a fine even craquelure throughout, with no trace of loose paint, past or present. Along the horizon slight thinness blurs the distant ships in places, with some of the rigging above. The filmy glazing of the sky, characteristically flickering with colour, is fragmented or lost, with the granular underlying paint intact. Traces of older retouching can be seen irregularly in places, including a yellowish area in the lower centre left of the sky, partly crossing the rigging of the second mast from the left, and other odd touches particularly down two rather incoherent verticals in the upper right sky, which complicate the legibility of the sky generally. Despite the messy state of the sky, the lower half of the painting is in beautifully clear, uncomplicated, pure condition. This report was not done under laboratory conditions.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The Forte di San Niccolò was situated at the northern end of the Venetian Lido, near the entrance of the Porto di Lido, where the Adriatic sea enters the Venetian Lagoon. During the heyday of the Venetian Republic or Serenissima this represented the principal access to the Venetian sea and was therefore guarded accordingly. Built in the mid-fi⛎fteenth century, the Forte di San Niccolò was called the Castelvecchio to distinguish it from the nearby fort of Sant' Andrea, the Castelnuovo, which faced it across the waters of entrance to the Lagoon, and with which it formed the front line of the Venetian sea defences. Both received their sternest test during the Turkish advances of the late 1560s prior to the great sea battle of Lepanto in 1571, and a third to꧃wer, the Torre Massimiliana was added the following century. The Forte di San Niccolò no longer stands, and the area around it is today a military zone.

Hitherto unpublished, this fine and atmospheric work is one of only a small number of views of this small fort on the northern edge of the Venetian lagoon. On a hot and calm summer's afternoon, the flags of the coastal vessels as well as that of the fort hang limply in the air, and the activities and colours of the gondolas plying their trade are mirrored in the calm water. A smaller but closely related painting on panel was formerly in the collection of Sir Bernard Eckstein and was sold in these Rooms on 8 December 1948, lot 13.¹  Two views seen from a more distant viewpoint are recorded by Morassi in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and a signed canvas formerly with the Koetser Gallery in Zurich.²  Both of these are relatively youthful works, and both form part of Guardi's celebrated series of vedute lagunari painted in the 1760s. The present canvas is more likely of later date. Among those views taken from a closer stand-point, Goodison lists examples in the Pasquinelli collection in Milan; with Messrs. Vickers, London; with Galerie Trotti, Paris; and that in the Modave sale, sold Paris, Galerie Charpentier, 12 June 1936, lot 8. The latter of these last two was also on a canvas of very similar dimensions (41 by 67 cms.) and may well be identifiable with the present lot. A related drawing in pen and brown ink and brown wash over black chalk is today in Washington, National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection (fig.1).³ This is generally considered a late drawing by Guardi, datinಞg from around 1775-85, and a similar date of execution could therefore be proposed for the present painting.

 

1.  Oil on panel, 7 by 9 1/2  in., sold for £800 to Harley.
2.  A. Morassi, Guardi. I Dipinti, Venice 1993, vol. I, p. 429, cat. nos. 639 and 640, reproduced vol. II, figs. 602 and 603.
3. Inv. no. 1963.15.13. 30 by 45.9 cm. Exhibited London, Royal Academy of Arts and Washington, National Gallery of Art, The Glory of Venice: Art inthe Eighteenth Century, 1994-1995, no. 214 (as the Forte di San Andrea).