Search Price Results
Wish

LOT 655

Guglielmo Da Re (2)

[ translate ]

(Vicenza 1867–1936)
The departure of the Bucintoro; and
The Bucintoro with the church of San Nicolò al Lido, Venice,
both signed with monogram: GD,
oil on canvas, each 100 x 180 cm, framed, a pair (2)

We are grateful to Fabrizio Magani for his help in cataloguing the present lot.
The first painting represents the Bucintoro: the grand ceremonial ship that was richly carved and decorated with sculpture, gilding and velvets that was reserved for the Doge of Venice and his retinue for use on feast days, gala receptions and especially, as in the present painting, for departure towards the open sea on the day of the Ascension of Christ. In this view, the city of Venice provides the background setting to the procession arranged annually for the Festa della Sensa – a sumptuous civil and religious ceremony, which was highly choreographed, and during which Venice symbolically celebrated her marriage to the Sea.

Each year the Doge would have a gold ring made that was identical to the one he wore on his finger, and on the day of the Ascension he would travel out to sea at the head of an impressive cortege to bless the waters. Once he reached deep waters he would throw the ring into the sea exclaiming: ‘Desponsamus te, mare, in signum veri perpetuique dominii’. At the conclusion of the rite, the Bucintoro would steer towards the Lido to moor before the church of San Nicolò (see B. Tamassi Mazzarotto, Le feste veneziane, i giochi popolari, le cerimonie religiose e di governo, Florence 1980, pp. 180-185; L. Urbani, Processioni e feste dogali, Venice 1998, pp. 89-95).

The second painting represents the moment immediately after the ceremony of the marriage of Venice to the sea, during which the Doge stopped at the church of San Nicolò, the patron saint of sailors, to hear mass and partake in the banquet offered to him by the monks. After this, the Bucintoro continued on its return voyage which would reach its conclusion when it moored at the Piazzetta di San Marco (see op. cit. Tamassi Mazzarotto, 1980, pp. 186-188). In this scene, the Venetian lagoon is shown teeming with vessels while the Bucintoro has drawn up to the quayside at San Nicolò to receive the procession passing under canopies set up for the occasion.

The present paintings belong to a trend for works evoking eighteenth-century celebrations, which remained fashionable throughout the nineteenth century, especially those that depicted the feste veneziane, or Venetian ceremonies. Here Da Re avails himself of the scenery provided by the architecture of Venice, as well as one of the viewpoints made famous by the eighteenth century vedutisti. Indeed, this composition derives from an invention of Canaletto that was celebrated by an engraving after it by Giovanni Battista Brustolon (circa 1766), which also served as a source of inspiration to Francesco Guardi for his Feste dogali in which the Bucintoro is also the protagonist. For the composition of these Venetian views, Da Re therefore made use of both the engraving after Canaletto and Guardi’s painting in the Louvre (inv. no. 20009).

Guglielmo Da Re trained at the Accademia Olimpica, Vicenza, and at the Accademia di Brera, Milan. A series of his Venetian views and neo-settecento style genre scenes date to the early period of his activity. Subsequently, he emigrated to Buenos Aires where he focused on history subjects connected with Argentinian independence. He was also a portraitist, and on his return to Italy he specialised in painting on glass, creating the windows of Oleggio cathedral near Novara and the Tempio dei Caduti in Modena.

[ translate ]

View it on
Sale price
Unlock
Estimate
Unlock
Time, Location
30 Apr 2019
Austria, Vienna
Auction House
Unlock

[ translate ]

(Vicenza 1867–1936)
The departure of the Bucintoro; and
The Bucintoro with the church of San Nicolò al Lido, Venice,
both signed with monogram: GD,
oil on canvas, each 100 x 180 cm, framed, a pair (2)

We are grateful to Fabrizio Magani for his help in cataloguing the present lot.
The first painting represents the Bucintoro: the grand ceremonial ship that was richly carved and decorated with sculpture, gilding and velvets that was reserved for the Doge of Venice and his retinue for use on feast days, gala receptions and especially, as in the present painting, for departure towards the open sea on the day of the Ascension of Christ. In this view, the city of Venice provides the background setting to the procession arranged annually for the Festa della Sensa – a sumptuous civil and religious ceremony, which was highly choreographed, and during which Venice symbolically celebrated her marriage to the Sea.

Each year the Doge would have a gold ring made that was identical to the one he wore on his finger, and on the day of the Ascension he would travel out to sea at the head of an impressive cortege to bless the waters. Once he reached deep waters he would throw the ring into the sea exclaiming: ‘Desponsamus te, mare, in signum veri perpetuique dominii’. At the conclusion of the rite, the Bucintoro would steer towards the Lido to moor before the church of San Nicolò (see B. Tamassi Mazzarotto, Le feste veneziane, i giochi popolari, le cerimonie religiose e di governo, Florence 1980, pp. 180-185; L. Urbani, Processioni e feste dogali, Venice 1998, pp. 89-95).

The second painting represents the moment immediately after the ceremony of the marriage of Venice to the sea, during which the Doge stopped at the church of San Nicolò, the patron saint of sailors, to hear mass and partake in the banquet offered to him by the monks. After this, the Bucintoro continued on its return voyage which would reach its conclusion when it moored at the Piazzetta di San Marco (see op. cit. Tamassi Mazzarotto, 1980, pp. 186-188). In this scene, the Venetian lagoon is shown teeming with vessels while the Bucintoro has drawn up to the quayside at San Nicolò to receive the procession passing under canopies set up for the occasion.

The present paintings belong to a trend for works evoking eighteenth-century celebrations, which remained fashionable throughout the nineteenth century, especially those that depicted the feste veneziane, or Venetian ceremonies. Here Da Re avails himself of the scenery provided by the architecture of Venice, as well as one of the viewpoints made famous by the eighteenth century vedutisti. Indeed, this composition derives from an invention of Canaletto that was celebrated by an engraving after it by Giovanni Battista Brustolon (circa 1766), which also served as a source of inspiration to Francesco Guardi for his Feste dogali in which the Bucintoro is also the protagonist. For the composition of these Venetian views, Da Re therefore made use of both the engraving after Canaletto and Guardi’s painting in the Louvre (inv. no. 20009).

Guglielmo Da Re trained at the Accademia Olimpica, Vicenza, and at the Accademia di Brera, Milan. A series of his Venetian views and neo-settecento style genre scenes date to the early period of his activity. Subsequently, he emigrated to Buenos Aires where he focused on history subjects connected with Argentinian independence. He was also a portraitist, and on his return to Italy he specialised in painting on glass, creating the windows of Oleggio cathedral near Novara and the Tempio dei Caduti in Modena.

[ translate ]
Sale price
Unlock
Estimate
Unlock
Time, Location
30 Apr 2019
Austria, Vienna
Auction House
Unlock