Francesco Tironi

The view depicts the Canale delle Barche, in the mainland town of Mestre - at the time, a commercial outpost of Venice that was used for trade with the north of Italy and the rest of northern Europe. The largest building on the left, with the ground story arcade, is the Antica Posta-Hostaria ai Tre Penacchi.

This composition is known in several versions, both painted and drawn, by Canaletto; there is also a related etching of circa 1740. The drawing, today in the Royal Collection (inv. no. RCIN 907490)¹ clearly forms the basis for the etching (Royal Collection, inv. no. RCIN 807844),² though there are differences in the staffage. Further contrasts are found between the drawing, print, and the painted depictions, the largest of which is recorded in the collection of John Y. Sangster, Canada, with smaller versions in the Fondation Bemberg, Toulouse,³ and the collection of Silvano Lodi, Campione d'Italia; a wider, more panoramic version of the view was sold at Christie's, New York, 26 January 2011, lot 44.⁴

The present painting differs from Canaletto's works in its lower viewpoint, and rather flatter perspective, creating less a sense of distance than one of intimacy. It also contrasts quite considerably in the inclusion, placement and appearance of several buildings, as well as the staffage. Ralph Toledano (see Literature) argues that this painting depicts Mestre a few years earlier than Canaletto's renditions of the early 1740s, as it appears to be less built-up and without at least one of the large buildings, which consistently appears in the left middle distance of Canaletto's paintings but is absent here. This case for an earlier dating also leads him to propose an attribution to Bernardo Bellotto, noting, as he does, the difference in execution between this work and the other known versions of the view.

More recently, an attribution to Francesco Tironi, working later in the 18th century, has been proposed. We are grateful to Charles Beddington and Dr Anna Bozena Kowalczyk for endorsing this attribution on the basis of first-hand inspection.

¹ https://www.rct.uk/collection/907490/mestre-the-canale-delle-barche

² https://www.rct.uk/collection/807844/mestre

³ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bemberg_Fondation_Toulouse_-_Vue_de_Mestre_-_Canaletto_-_ca_1740_-_Inv_1010.jpg

⁴ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mestre_-_Canaletto_-_piazza_Barche.jpg