A capriccio in the courtyard of a villa c.1740-45
Pen and ink, with grey wash, over ruled and free pencil and pinpointing | 21.5 x 33.8 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 907544
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A drawing of an invented view, known as a capriccio. On the left hand side of the composition are outhouses, complete with benches, buckets and barrels. To the right of these is a large well head and a figure is engaged in collecting water from the well. In the centre is a wall which has a statue of a saint on top. The right-hand side of the drawing is dominated by the facade of a large building. Several figures and a dog are also depicted in the courtyard. The scene is enclosed within a ruled ink border line.
The scene seems to be the courtyard of an imaginary villa on the Venetian terraferma. To the right is a Renaissance building of an odd scale, conceived as a triumphal arch closed by a huge wooden screen with a door set in below, entered by a nobleman in a frock-coat. In the tympanum is Canaletto’s chevron ‘signature’. To the left are the rear of the gate and the domestic buildings, including a loggia, and the statue of a saint standing on the corner of the wall. The scene in the courtyard is unusually anecdotal, with a well-head from which a figure draws water, clothes hanging off the lean-to roof, barrels, benches, pails and other implements laid around.
Although this has been placed by some scholars among Canaletto’s late drawings, and is of a non-standard size, it does not seem distinct in style or intent from the series of capricci catalogued above. A related drawing with a similar left hand side was on the London art market in 1988.
Catalogue entry adapted from Canaletto in Venice, London, 2005Provenance
Purchased by George III from Consul Joseph Smith, 1762
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Medium and techniques
Pen and ink, with grey wash, over ruled and free pencil and pinpointing
Measurements
21.5 x 33.8 cm (sheet of paper)
Other number(s)
RL 7544