86 - Francesco Guardi (Venice 1712–1793)

Francesco Guardi (Venice 1712–1793) Madonna and Child with Saint Anne Oil on canvas 40 x 48.5 cm The work is accompanied by a letter from Dr. Filippo Pedrocco in which he informs the owner that the painting will be published as a work by Francesco Guardi and dated around 1750. The publication, which did indeed take place as planned, has been lost and can no longer be found in the family library. He received his training within his family, where everyone was a painter. He began his career in the family tradition as a painter of sacred and mythological scenes, without much success, until approximately 1755, when he began working as a landscape painter, likely to supplement his meager income. Initially, he followed in the footsteps of Canaletto and Marieschi; his brushwork is fluid and controlled, guided by a solid foundation in drawing. The turning point came between the 1770s and 1780s, when he painted two views of St. Mark’s Square, commissioned by an “English stranger.” It was not until late in life, in 1782, that he received his first public commission, when he was tasked with creating four paintings to commemorate Pope Pius VI’s visit to Venice, followed by celebratory canvases marking the arrival in Venice of the Archdukes of Russia. In the meantime, his painting had matured into a highly distinctive—indeed, unique—style, characterized by the deconstruction of the drawing, the absence of contours, the altered proportions of elements, and a deliberately proto-Romantic artistic expression. In addition to his famous cityscapes, he painted capriccios, views along the Brenta River, and landscapes of the Venetian countryside. Francesco Guardi (Venice 1712–1793) Madonna and Child with Saint Anne Oil on canvas 40 x 48.5 cm The work is accompanied by a letter from Dr. Filippo Pedrocco in which he informs the owners that the painting will be published as a work by Francesco Guardi, dated around 1750. The publication, which did indeed take place as planned, has since been lost and can no longer be found in the family library.