Giovanni Battista Ii Pittoni

Giovanni Battista Pittoni (Venice 1687-1767) Christ driving the moneylenders from the Temple oil on canvas 101.5 x 94cm (39 15/16 x 37in). PROVENANCE: Palazzo Avogadro, Brescia, 1760 Acquired by the present owner's family in France approximately 50 years ago and thence by descent DRAWING: Young girl with dove , Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice (cat. D.10) This hitherto untraced painting is the companion to The Massacre of the Innocents , which is now in a Private Collection, Milan (oil on canvas, 113 x 105 cm.) and was once part of a series of three (see F. Zara Boccazzi, Pittoni (Venice, 1979), p. 142, ill. fig. 178). We know from G.B. Carboni's record of 1760 that in the second room of the Palazzo Avogadro in Brescia there hung 'La Strage degl'Innocenti, Cristo che scaccia dal Tempio gli Ebrei, La B.V. Addolorata: tutti del Pittoni' (G.B. Carboni (e Chizzola), La pitture e sculture di Brescia (Brescia, 1760), p. 180). The present painting had also been known from a drawing by Pittoni showing the female figure with the dove to the lower left of the composition, which is now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice. Both the Milan painting and the present work were copied by Anton Kern in a format which extended the composition vertically (Narodowe Museum, Warsaw, cat. S. 19 and S. 20; op. cit. figs. 179 and 180). As well as having previously explained the purpose of Pittoni's preparatory drawing which is now in Venice, Kern's copy confirms a date of Pittoni's originals to before 1730, when the Austrian artist left Pittoni's workshop and moved back to his native Austria, thus shedding valuable light on the artist's early oeuvre , which had reached a compositional and stylistic peak as early as the late 1720s.

Giovanni Battista Pittoni (Venice 1687-1767)
The Immaculate Conception with Saints Joseph and Anthony, in a painted arched top
Add. Notes: oil on canvas, shaped top 22 x 11½ in. (56 x 29.2 cm.) Provenance
Notes: This painting is the only known depiction of the subject by Pittoni. As pointed out by Franca Zava Boccazzi (op. cit.), this is typical of Pittoni's mature style, and would have been executed for private devotion, rather than as a highly finished preparatory work for a large altarpiece. The freshness of the brushstrokes, as well as the inventive spatial arrangement of the figures, gives the picture a liveliness and greater sense of spontaneity than is usual in the large church commissions.
Pre-lot Text: PROPERTY FROM THE LOYD COLLECTION (LOTS 39, 60, 204 AND 216)
Provenance: John Inglis, Lord Glencorse (1810-1891), Lord Justice-General of Scotland (according to a label on the reverse 'Lord President Inglis'). R.H. Bamberger, by whom sold to the following with Thomas Agnew and Sons, London, from whom bought by C.L. Loyd, 5 April 1961.
Literature: F. Zava Boccazzi, Pittoni. L'opera completa, Venice, 1979, p. 131, no. 71, fig. 479. The Loyd Collection of Pictures and Drawings at Betterton House, Lockinge near Wantage, Berkshire, London, 1967, p. 36, no. 54; revised edition 1991, p. 23, no. 54, illustrated.

Giambattista Pittoni (Venice 1687-1767) The Sacrifice of the daughter of Jephthah oil on canvas 24 x 32 in. (61 x 81.3 cm.) Lot Description Giambattista Pittoni (Venice 1687-1767) The Sacrifice of the daughter of Jephthah oil on canvas 24 x 32 in. (61 x 81.3 cm.) Saleroom Notice Please note that the present work was on loan to the Los AngelesCounty Museum of Art, Los Angeles from 1994-2005. Pre-Lot Text PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF BERNARD C. SOLOMON Provenance Fernando Colonna, Turin. with Simon Dickinson, New York, from whom acquired by the presentowner. Literature L. Coggiola Pittoni, Opere inedite, rivendicate o poco note diGiambattista Pittoni, Venice, 1933, pp. 40-1, fig. 38. W. Arslan, 'Studi sulla pittura del primo Settecento veneziano', inLa Critica d'Arte, 2, June 1936, p. 241. G. Lorenzetti, La pittura italiana del Settecento, Novara, 1942, p.xxxii. R. Pallucchini, I disegni di Giambattista Pittoni, Padova, 1945, p.19. J. Fenyo, 'Zur Kunst Giovanni Battista Pittoni', in Acta HistoriaeArtium Academiae Scientarum Hungaricae, 1, 1954, p. 291. M. R. Gagliardi Gabrielli, 'Contributo a G.B. Pittoni', in ArteVeneta, 1961, p. 178. F. Zava Boccazzi, Pittoni: L'opera completa, Venice, 1979, p. 163,no. 195, figs. 299, 304; p. 129, under no. 63. Exhibited Venice, Galleria dell'Accademia, L'Accademia di Belle Arti diVenezia nel suo bicentenario, 1750-1950, no. 5. Lot Notes The present work, a popular subject for Pittoni, depicts a scenefrom the life of the Old Testament warrior Jephthah, who led theIsraelites to victory over the Ammonites with the help of thefollowing pact with God (Book of Judges 11: 30-40): 'If you deliverthe Ammonites into my hands, then whatever comes out of the door ofmy house to meet me on my safe return from the Ammonites shall bethe Lord's and shall be offered by me as a burnt offering'. Uponhis return to Mizpah, Jephthah's daughter and only childinstinctively rushed out to greet her father 'with timbrel anddance'. Pittoni depicts the ill-fated daughter as a paragon ofvirtue kneeling before her father and high priest at a sacrificialaltar in noble resignation to her destiny: 'Father, you haveuttered a vow to the Lord; do to me as you have vowed, seeing thatthe Lord has vindicated you against your enemies, theAmmonites'. Pittoni was one of the most successful history painters of theVenetian Rococo, a status that was confirmed by his role as secondpresident of the Venetian Academy following Giambattista Tiepolo'spermanent move to Spain in 1763. Pittoni first crossed the Alps in1720 on a trip to France with his friend and fellow artist, RosalbaCarriera. His reputation as a skilled painter soon spreadthroughout the courts of Europe, and by 1722 he waswell-represented in the celebrated picture gallery ofFrederick-Augustus I, Elector of Saxony. In 1735 the King of Spaininvited Pittoni to execute a cycle illustrating the life ofAlexander the Great. And in 1743 he was singled out byFrederick-Augustus II as one of the five most accomplished Venetianmasters in the Dresden collection of 'modern paintings'. Apart froma solid career as a decorative history painter, Pittoni served asan influential art consultant, advising, among others, MarshalMatthias von der Schulenberg, who owned nine works by theartist. According to Zava Boccazzi, the present work is the modello for apainting commissioned in 1732-3 for the King of Savoy and now inthe Palazzo Reale, Genoa (Zava Boccazzi, op. cit., no. 63). TheGenoa picture has since been significantly cut down on two sides,thus rendering the present work the best extant illustration of theartist's original concetto. Two autograph replicas of the modelloare in England, one in a private collection (ibid., no. 68) and theother in Southampton Art Gallery, Hampshire (ibid., no. 184). The present picture's luxuriant colors and decorative toneexemplify Pittoni's mature style, a decisive break begun in the1730s from his early training in the dramatic Baroque idiom of hisuncle, Francesco Pittoni. In 1996 Christie's sold a contemporarywork of a similar subject by the artist, The Sacrifice of Polyxenaat the Tomb of Achilles (Christie's, New York, 12 January 1996, lot140, $244,500; fig. 1).

Giovanni Battista Cimaroli (Salo 1687-after 1753 Venice) A capriccio view of Venice, with the church of Santa Maria Gloriosadei Frari, and the Fabbriche Vecchie of Rialto beyond oil on canvas 27 x 32½ in. (68.5 x 82.5 cm.) Lot Notes We are grateful to Professor Dario Succi for confirming theattribution to Cimaroli on the basis of a color transparency(written communication, 15 November 2004). In addition, ProfessorSucci notes that, in this 'raro capriccio', Cimaroli imitates theearly works of Canaletto in using red and brown pigments and strongchiaroscuro. He dates it to between 1725 and 1730.

measurements 24 3/4 by 31 7/8in. 62.9 by 81cm description oil on canvas the present composition can be compared stylistically to two other works by pittoni entitled juno and argus and venus and mars. franca zava boccazzi dates these pictures to circa 1723 (see pittoni l'opera completa, 1979, p. 143, cat. nos. 113 & 114, illus.). a smaller version of the present composition (oil on canvas, 38.5 by 55 cm.), including an additional female figure at center and a putto at far right, was with galerie canesso, paris in 1999. a preparatory drawing for the head of the standing nude female figure in both paintings is in the collection of fondazione giorgio cini, venice [inv. 30.341] (see a. binion, i disegni di giambattista pittoni, 1983, no. 201). this lot is sold subject to sotheby's conditions of sale. as stated in the conditions, all lots are sold on an "as is" basis. prospective bidders should review the conditions, glossary and buying at auction guide.