During the eighteenth century the young aristocrats of Europe entrusted the Grand Tour a good part of his education, visiting Italian cities, including Venice, Naples and Rome.
Inspired by the journey, many of them developed a keen interest in art and took the opportunity to pose for some of the greatest portrait painters of the time and purchase paintings of Vedute as a reminder of their adventures and discoveries.
Many of the best-known talents of the time, including Vanvitelli, Bellotto, the Van Lint family, Hackert and Caffi, worked on the commissions of Grand Tourist.
This is the first of two sessions, the second being held in London in April.
While Landscape painting has always existed since the Renaissance (as a sub-genre), View paintings developed as a truly autonomous genre in the late XNUMXth century.
Vanvitelli is considered one of the fathers of Italian view, also topographically very accurate views.
Her A View of the Castel Sant'Angelo from Prati (est. $300,000/400,000) shows the reality of Rome at the end of the century, with scenes of daily life, juxtaposed with historical monuments inundated by the warm atmosphere of the city.
Painted by Bernard Bellotto with an extraordinary light A Capriccio River Landscape with a Church to the Left (est. $1,000,000/1,500,000) is evidence of the development of a taste for whims, imaginary landscapes that include many real elements to create imaginative descriptions of famous places.
Instructed by his uncle Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto, in his studio, where he witnessed the creation of many of his masterpieces of the XNUMXs, Bellotto developed a style rooted in his uncle's work but aimed at greater precision in the description of architecture, in the more emphasized atmosphere and with a more colorful palette. He was celebrated in Italy as in many European courts of northern Europe where he worked.
This painting was executed around 1765, when Bellotto left his Venice studio, after having lived eleven years in Dresden (1747-58) as the highest paid and most appreciated court painter.
Another fixed destination of the Grand Tour it was the city of Naples. The magnificent view of Vanvitelli View of the Riviera Di Chiaia (est. $1,500,000/2,000,000) shows the busy avenue that runs along the sea, built in 1697 and marked by the elegant architecture of the residences of the nobility.
The magnificent view represents the acme of the artist's career, and is among the best works by Vanvitelli due to its excellent condition and large size.
Portraiture flourishes during these years and is among the genres of paintings purchased by travellers. Considered by many to be the best Italian portrait painter, Pompeo Batoni he counted among his patrons the most influential foreign travellers.
The remarkable painting by Batoni Portrait of Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of York and Albany (est. $300,000/400,000) portrays the subject against the background of the Colosseum, one of the most recognizable monuments of Rome.
The Road to Rome"perfectly captures the spirit of the taste of Grand Tour and includes the greatest examples of the genres that characterized it.
Mario Tavella, President of Sotheby's France, comments: “This beautiful and cultivated private collection consists of two parts: the first collects exceptional examples of Italian views, the second will present a large group of art objects and mosaics by well-known Roman artists, such as Valadier, Righetti, Raffaelli, and Aguatti. This collection was built during the XNUMXth century with the same passion and wonder that characterized the purchases of the Grand Tourists two centuries earlier”.
