'L'Anconetta near Venice'

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Private Collection, England / Photograph by John Hammond

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Artist

Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)

Title

'L'Anconetta near Venice'

Date

c.1765 (undated)

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

Metric: 16.5 x 22.9 cm
Imperial: 6 1/2 x 9 in.

Collection

Private Collection, England

Accession Number

BB21

Wilson Online Reference

P149

Exhibited

Brighton 1920 (31 - Seascape); Exeter 1946 (57 - Seascape, near Venice); London 1968 (9); London, Cardiff and New Haven, 1982-83 (109); Conwy 2009 (17); Weston 2011 (19); Gainsborough's House 2014 (unnumbered)

Provenance

Benjamin Booth; thence by descent

Subject

This painting depicts the small church of Sta Maria dell'Anconetta. L'Anconetta is a small island near Marghera, off Mestre, on which the church of Sta Maria dell'Anconetta was built. The church and its community were dependent on the Patriarch of Venice.

Related Drawings

D193 Studio of Wilson, The Island of Anconetta, Venice, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Related Prints

E72/25 Thomas Hastings after Wilson, Untitled ['L'Anconetta near Venice'], The British Museum (1854,0708.82) and other impressions

Critical commentary

Luke Herrmann noted that the style of this dramatic landscape though dark, was reminiscent of Francesco Guardi (Walpole Society 1998-I, p. 16) and Gareth Williams has commented that it is likely, with its loose handling of paint, to have been produced after Wilson's return to England. However, this style, combined with the small size of the work, could argue as easily for a later date towards the end of the artist's career. The title comes from Benjamin Booth's list but the buildings are not identical with those in Wilson's other views of the island of Anconetta (P113 and other versions) or that by Guardi. There are similarities between the tower, its two upper openings and the arched superstructure with elements of the Torre delle Grotte (see P70).

Bibliography

Booth Notes Doc. 9 (*2); WGC, pp. 79, 193, pl. 66c; Solkin 1982, p. 219, no. 109; Walpole Society 1998-I, p. 16, BB21; Lord 2009, p. 56, no. 17; Williams 2011, p. 30, repr.

Link to WG Constable Archive Record

WGC/1/1/77

More Information

The title was given by Benjamin Booth in the 1790s. A small church called Sta Maria l'Anconetta existed in Venice near San Marcuola until it was demolished in 1855.

Updated by Compiler

16/11/2021

'L'Anconetta near Venice'

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