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A masterpiece painting by the Italian artist Canaletto, once owned by the UK’s first prime minister, has recently been sold for a record-breaking fee. The painting, titled Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day and painted around 1732, was auctioned at Christie’s in London for £27.5m (£31.9m with fees). This sale set a new auction record for the artist, attracting an anonymous bidder who made the acquisition.
The artwork had a prestigious history, having adorned the walls of Number 10 Downing Street during Sir Robert Walpole’s time as prime minister from 1721 to 1742. Christie’s global head of the Old Masters Department, Andrew Fletcher, praised the painting as “unquestionably the greatest work by the artist to have come to the market in a generation.” He highlighted the significance of such a masterpiece by Canaletto appearing in the art market.
Canaletto, whose real name was Giovanni Antonio Canal, was born in Venice in 1697 and became a renowned favorite among British art collectors. It remains unclear how Sir Robert Walpole acquired the painting, but it is believed that his son Edward played a role in facilitating the acquisition after spending time in Venice. The artwork depicts the Feast of the Ascension of Christ, a significant event in the Venetian calendar until the decline of the Venice Republic in 1797.
Previously sold at auction in Paris in 1993, the painting fetched a record-breaking sum of 66 million French francs (£7.5m). It was later part of a pair with another painting entitled Grand Canal from Palazzo Balbi to the Rialto, which set a record auction price for a Canaletto when sold at Sotheby’s in London in 2005 for £18.6m. Despite initial expectations of selling for around £20m, the painting surpassed projections with its final sale price
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