Giuseppe Borsato
1771 – 1849
A View of the Grand Canal with the Rialto Bridge
Medium:
Oil on Canvas
Category:
Dimensions:
38(h) x 49.5(w) cms
Framed Dimensions:
48(h) x 58(w) cms
Signed:
Signed and dated verso 'Borsato F. 1823'. The Grand Canal also signed and dated recto lower right 'Borsato 18..'
Paired with:
Essay:
This painting is one of a pair.
Born in Venice in 1770, Giuseppe Borsato is best known for his architectural and landscape painting of the great city in the tradition of Canaletto and, more contemporarily, with 19th Century painters like Chilone, Migliara and Bison. However, he is still considered by many to be the last flowering of the great settecento Venetian vedute painters.
During the French occupation of Venice he was a key figure in devising designs for official celebrations. Borsato conceived a series of structures erected specially for this occasion and Baron Dominique Vivant-Denon commissioned six paintings from him describing the Venetian celebrations and the glory of the French Empire. These include a painting of Napleon entering the city on 29 November 1807 and another showing Napoleon presiding over the Regatta on 2 December 1807 (Palace of Versailles, object. nos. MV 1446 and 1447).
Having worked on the theatre in Treviso, Borsato was appointed "Scenografo Ufficiale" of the famous La Fenice theatre and he also became professor of ornamental art at the Venice Academy in 1812. His typically precise and detailed style produced pictorial, historical documents that closely recorded important events.
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This view of the Grand Canal has the Palazzo Bembo to the immediate right followed by the Palazzo Manin. Palazzo Bembo was originally built in the 14th century and was traditionally home to the noble Bembo family.
Both paintings are unlined on their original canvas.
Provenance:
Private collection, France
