{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O239466"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O239466/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2010EF7250/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2010EF7250/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2010EF7250","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JX4166","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O239466/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O239466","accessionNumber":"DYCE.261","objectType":"Drawing","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Architectural Capriccio, with a flight of stairs leading up to a Palladian building. Figures grouped about the steps; Pen and ink and wash.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Guardi, Francesco","id":"A18909"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"pen","id":"x30618"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawing","id":"AAT54196"},{"text":"wash technique","id":"AAT182748"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Pen and ink and wash","categories":[{"text":"Drawings","id":"THES48966"}],"styles":[{"text":"Venetian School","id":"x36536"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2010EF7250","2017JX4166"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLH (VA)","id":"THES49654"},"free":"","case":"DG","shelf":"14","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"drawing","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Italy","id":"x28927"},"association":{"text":"drawn","id":"x30545"},"note":"possibly"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"18th century","earliest":"1700-01-01","latest":"1800-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"7","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"5.1","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Original measurements converted from fractional inches into decimal inches (rounded to one decimal place).\r\nDimensions taken from: <u>DYCE COLLECTION. A Catalogue of the Paintings, Miniatures, Drawings, Engravings, Rings and Miscellaneous Objects Bequeathed by The Reverend Alexander Dyce</u>. London : South Kensington Museum, 1874.","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Historical significance: Francesco Guardi was the most celebrated member of a family of eighteenth-century Venetian artists. After the death of his brother Giovanni in the middle of the century, Francesco established himself as a Veduta painter. Although he borrowed from many artists, the most important source of inspiration in his early period was certainly Canaletto. However, the painters probably had never worked together. Guardi followed closely Canaletto’s drawings and engravings in his topographically accurate views of Venice, which were in demand among foreign collectors.\r\n\r\nLater in the 1770s and 1780s, Guardi’s style becomes looser and freer. He also painted the figures according to contemporary fashion, which makes his paintings a valuable indication of the current trends in hairstyle and dress. The ladies in his works from that period wear high coiffures decorated with feathers and flowers inspired by French and English fashions. Guardi was more comfortable with small figures in architectural setting than with large-scale religious scenes in altarpieces.\r\n\r\nVenetian patrons preferred Guardi’s imaginary views, called capricci, to the straightforward recreations of the architecture of the city. The motifs include creative ensembles of classical architecture, picturesque ruins, Gothic arches, harbours and obelisks. Guardi often repeated these details introducing slight variations. Identifiable architectural details from Venice, such as the Doge’s Palace, conflate in the capricci with fruits of Guardi’s imagination. \r\n\r\nFrancesco Guardi died in 1793 as a major figure on the artistic scene. His characteristic style and considerable output encouraged many forgeries, especially in the medium of drawing.\r\n\r\nThis drawing is a <i>capriccio</i> or an imaginary ensemble of architecture and figures. A painting at the National Gallery (NG2517) and another at Lisbon are based on it (Morassi 1973, no. 753, 754). The building on the left may have been inspired by Palladio’ s designs for the Rialto bridge, which Guardi knew and copied in drawings (Morassi 1975,no. 372 and 373). Palladio’s project was never executed, as Antonio da Ponte’s design was chosen for the new Rialto bride. This drawing is exemplary of Guardi’s late, sketchy style. Most of the forms of figures and shadows are suggested using ink and wash, outlined only rapidly with pen. Guardi’s <i>capricci</i> often contain elements evoking the architecture of Florence and Venice, although creative synthesis seems more important here than topographical accuracy.\r\n\r\nThe work has been drawn on a printed sheet. The letters ‘PA’ are visible, placed horizontally below the dome of the building on the left. The sheet has a border around the edge in brown wash, similar to the one in Dyce 260 and other drawings by Guardi.\r\n\r\nReferences:\r\n\r\nMorassi, Antonio; <u> Guardi : tutti i disegni di Antonio, Francesco e Giacomo Guardi</u>, (Alfieri, Venezia 1975)\r\n\r\nMorassi, Antonio; <u>Guardi: Antonio e Francesco Guardi</u>, (Alfieri, Venezia 1973)","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Guardi, Francesco; Architectural Capriccio, with a flight of stairs leading up to a Palladian building. Figures grouped about the steps; Pen and ink and wash; Italian; 18th century.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<u>DYCE COLLECTION. A Catalogue of the Paintings, Miniatures, Drawings, Engravings, Rings and Miscellaneous Objects Bequeathed by The Reverend Alexander Dyce</u>. London : South Kensington Museum, 1874."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Ward-Jackson, Peter, <u>Italian Drawings Volume II. 17th-18th century</u>, London, 1979, p.148-149, illus. \n\nThe following is the full text of the entry: \n\r\nGUARDI, FRANCESCO\r\n(1712-93)\n\r\n1029 \r\nArchitectural capriccio, with a flight of steps leading up to a Palladian building \r\nPen and ink and wash \r\n7 x 5 1/8 (177 x 130) Dyce 261 \n\r\nPROVENANCE Dyce Bequest 1869 \n\r\nLITERATURE <i>Dyce Catalogue</i> no. 261 (as by Guardi); Reitlinger, no. 37; Borenius, p. 224; Pallucchini, p. 30; Byam Shaw, p. 75, no. 61 and p. 55; M. Levey, <i>National Gallery Catalogues. The eighteenth century Italian schools</i>, 1957, p. 52, no. 2517; I. Moskowitz (editor), <i>Great Drawings of all time</i>, New York, 1962, I, pl. 305; Morassi, <i>Tutti i disegni</i>, no. 509, pl. 508 \r\n\nDrawn on the lower part of a printed sheet; the letters PA are printed across the building on the left and a line of print has been cut in half along the left margin. The drawing is mounted in the same way as no. 1030 below. A picture in the National Gallery and another at Lisbon are based on it (Morassi, <i>L'opera completa</i>, nos. 753 and 754). Levey suggests that the building on the left (without the dome) was inspired by Palladio's unexecuted design for the Rialto bridge, which Guardi knew and copied in two drawings in the Correr Museum (Morassi, <i>Tutti i disegni</i>, nos. 372 and 373). \r\n"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"figures","id":"AAT189808"},{"text":"amphitheatre","id":"AAT7128"},{"text":"temple","id":"AAT7595"},{"text":"steps","id":"AAT3312"},{"text":"capriccio","id":"AAT15441"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["DYCE.261"],"accessionNumberNum":"261","accessionNumberPrefix":"DYCE","accessionYear":null,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-07","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-08","availableToBook":false}}