This exhibition and catalogue commemorates the one-hundred-year anniversary of Lampronti Gallery, founded in 1914 by my Grandfather and now one of the foremost galleries specialising in Italian Old Master paintings in the United Kingdom. We have, over the years, developed considerable knowledge and expertise in the field of vedute, or view paintings, and it therefore seemed fitting that this centenary exhibition be dedicated to our best examples of this great tradition, many of which derive from important private collections and are published here for the first time.
More precisely, the exhibition brings together a fine selection of views of Venice, a city whose romantic canals and quality of light were never represented with greater sensitivity or technical brilliance than during the eighteenth century. The masters of vedutismo - Canaletto, Marieschi, Bellotto and Guardi - are all represented here by key works that capture the essence of Venice. A desire to record one's surroundings, as well as issue of taste, culture and economy, drove the demand for vedute and offer a vivid insight into the period. The diffusion of prototypes via prints, particularly Antonio Visentini's series of engraved plates after Canaletto, the 'Prospectus Magni Canalis Venetiarum' (1735, 1742), dramatically influenced the genre's development and proposes interesting questions concerning originality and replication. Rather than being passive imitators, how-ever, artists such as Cimaroli and Domenichini demonstrate highly personal re-imaginings of past models through their liveliness of vision and masterful execution. Later nineteenth-century interpreters of such as Bison and Zanin reveal the profound influence that Canaletto and his rivals had upon future generations of artists.
The culture of reciprocity between the Italian Peninsula and England during the Grand Siècle, epitomised by the exchange between Canaletto and Joseph Consul Smith, is a key aspect of the history of vedutismo and continues to resonate to this day. Many will be familiar with the corners of Venice represented in the paintings from their visits to the National Gallery or the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle and, of course, to the city itself. We therefore hope that this exhibition and catalogue will be of special interest to London audiences and beyond, who we invite to enjoy the evocative and resplendent qualities of Venice, La Serenissima.