Charles Lebayle (1856 - 1898) - Venezia, Scorcio di Campo San Zanipolo

Charles Lebayle (Paris 1856 - 1898)
Venice: View of Campo San Zanipolo
oil on canvas, 62x36 cm – with frame, 71 x 45 cm
signed lower right

This evocative Venetian glimpse represents one of the most famous equestrian statues of the Renaissance, the Bartolomeo Colleoni created by Andrea del Verrocchio, and the imposing church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (also called San Zanipolo in Venetian dialect) located in Campo dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo also known as Campo San Zanipolo. It is one of the largest fields in Venice, located in the Castello district, on the border with that of Cannaregio, where in addition to the two monuments mentioned there also stands the Scuola Grande di San Marco, an ancient and precious place which before its dispersion housed paintings such as The miracle of San Marco (Accademia Galleries) , the Finding of the body of San Marco (Brera) the theft of the body of San Marco (Accademia Galleries) by Tintoretto but also paintings by Gentile and Giovanni Bellini (Predica di San Marco in Alexandria, Egypt – Brera) .
The Basilica of Saints John and Paul is one of the most impressive medieval religious buildings in Venice, built starting from 1243 at the behest of Doge Jacopo Tiepolo, the construction site was closed in 1343, but the embellishment works lasted almost a century: the November 14, 1430, the church was solemnly consecrated. Since then it was continuously enriched with sepulchral monuments, paintings and sculptures by the greatest Venetian artists, until in 1807, in the midst of the Napoleonic era, the Dominicans were removed from their convent, transformed into a hospital, and the church was deprived of numerous works of art . Among the incredible works still on site are the polyptych of San Vincenzo Ferrer by Giovanni Bellini but also the Gloria of San Domenico (finished in 1727) , a work by Piazzetta.
The famous equestrian monument created by Andrea del Verrocchio between 1480 and 1488 depicts the leader Bartolomeo Colleoni (1395/1400-1475) , one of the most enterprising captains of fortune of the Republic of Venice in the 15th century, nicknamed "invincible" by his mercenary soldiers ”, impersonating the classic bold and daring leader, full of charm and pride.
As the signature attests, the work is by the hand of the painter Charles Lebayle (Paris 1856 - 1898) , French painter and designer. His father managed a window dressing and decoration company where his son began working at the age of fourteen. He began attending evening courses at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, where he became a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel and the sculptor Aimé Millet . It debuted at the Salon in 1877 but rather than paintings, it exhibited works in stained glass. He won a competition at the École des Beaux-arts in 1879, then studied oil painting with Adolphe Yvon, in classes open to the public. In 1885 he worked on the Autun Cathedral where he helped create a glass roof depicting the life of the Virgin, from drawings by architect Lucien Magne and decorator François-Émile Ehrmann. It is he who created the main window at the town hall of Vannes, together with Charles Champigneulle. A year later he won the Prix de Rome for Claudius Proclaimed Emperor, his most famous painting now preserved at the Ecole de Beaux Arts de Paris, and spent two years at Villa Medici.
Returning to France he took a place in the workshops of the famous stained glass artist, Lucien Bégule, and helped create windows for the Hôpital de la Charité in Lyon, most of which were destroyed when the building was demolished in 1933.

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