Giacomo Guardi, 
Italian 1764-1835- 
A view of the Porto di Lido with the Forte di Sant'Andrea...

Giacomo Guardi, 
Italian 1764-1835- 

A view of the Porto di Lido with the Forte di Sant'Andrea and the Church of San Nicolò, Venice; 

oil on canvas, indistinctly signed 'G Guardi' (lower right), 51.8 x 77.2 cm. (unframed). 

Provenance: 
Anon. sale, Sotheby's, London, 12 July 2001, lot 76 (£46,500). 

Literature: 
D. Succi, ‘Guardi. Catalogo dei Dipinti e disegni inediti e Itinerario artistico’, vol. I, Italy, (Editoriale Giorgio Mondadori), 2021, pp.436-441. 
To be including in D. Succi’s forthcoming catalogue of 50 Venetian ‘vedustiti’ from the 17^th to the 19^th century, to be published in September 2025. 

Note: 
We are grateful to Dario Succi for confirming the attribution of the present lot. 

Views of this site appear quite rarely in the oeuvre of the Guardis and there seem to be only four extant paintings showing this particular area on the Venetian lagoon: three by Francesco (one illustrating the lagoon with the Forte di Sant'Andrea in the distance; a second showing the same stretch of water and buildings but from the other side; and a third showing the Forte di Sant'Andrea from much closer) and one, almost identical to the present work in composition though the boats and staffage differ in certain details, ascribed to Giacomo by Morassi (A. Morassi, ‘Guardi. I dipinti’, Venice 1993, vol.1, cat. nos 640-642, reproduced vol. II, figs 603-605 respectively; and op. cit., vol. I, p. 288, reproduced vol. II, fig. 925). Small topographical differences exist between the versions; namely Giacomo's omission in his two paintings of the turret (with a cupola) surmounting the main body of the Forte di Sant'Andrea, and the staircase so visible in Francesco's painting (ibid., cat. no.641). It may be that Giacomo adapted the view from his father’s existing paintings (and/or drawings) of the site, without returning to paint the buildings ‘in situ’. It is noteworthy that all three of Francesco's paintings of the site are on a much smaller scale than either of the two versions by Giacomo. 

The Forte di Sant'Andrea, now destroyed, took its name from a monastery built in 1199 on the site. Construction on the fortress, originally named 'Castel Nuovo', began during the first half of the 15th century as part of a project in which the two main fortified buildings at the mouth of the Porto di Lido were to be refurbished. Due to a shortage of funds, a choice had to be made concerning which of the two buildings should be refurbished: the Church of San Nicolò (a project upheld by the Veronese architect, Michele Sanmicheli) or the Forte di Sant'Andrea (a project favoured by Antonio da Castello, the captain in charge of the Venetian artillery). The Venetian town council – the ‘Consiglio dei Dieci’ - found the latter building of greater strategic importance and on 2nd September 1543 the Forte's refurbishment was officially approved. The final structure combined Michele Sanmicheli's plans for an elegant exterior with Antonio da Castello's more military preoccupations (namely the design of a parapet behind which the artillery would remain protected). As fate would have it, the Forte di Sant'Andrea was only ever put to defensive use twice: once shortly after it was completed, and a second time against the French fleet during the Revolution, in 1797. 

In the present work, the handling of the paint, in particular the conscious fluidity of the figures and the black demarcation of the architecture, is entirely characteristic of Giacomo's painted oeuvre; an attribution further confirmed by the signature lower right. A similar drawing, entitled ‘View of S Nicolo del Lido, Venice’, sold at Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, 19 May 2004, lot 170.