Anon. The Dogana & Church of the Salute, Venice after Clarkson Stanfield

An original c.1832 watercolour painting The Dogana & Church of the Salute, Venice after Clarkson Stanfield.

An exquisite miniature view of The Dogana and Church of the Salute in Venice. Beautifully hand-painted in watercolour, with no discernible underdrawing, this tiny painting by an unknown hand displays remarkable skill.

This watercolour is after a larger work by Clarkson Frederick Stanfield RA RBA (1793–1867) (now in the British Museum, 1900,0824.537) which was reproduced as an engraved plate in 'Heath's Picturesque Annual for 1832. Travelling Sketches in the North of Italy the Tyrol and on the Rhine'. Stanfield, a prominent marine painter, was one of the most accomplished painters of the early 19th century and was considered by many of his contemporaries as an equal of Turner. During the 1830s, Stanfield was one of the foremost contributors to the various illustrated travel books that had become so popular, such as Charles Heath's 'Picturesque Annuals'.

Stanfield's work had a tendency to melodrama—his early success having been achieved as a scene painter—and this Venetian view encapsulates this sense of drama: boats crowd at the entrance to the Grand Canal amidst storm clouds and turbulent waters. Stanfield chose to paint the relatively rare event of a Venetian storm, and the accompanying text in Heath's annual brilliantly conveys it's drama: 'The waves rise, and fret, and shout, and grow alternately dark and pale with passion. Woe betide the gondolas that have not time to get home before the riot commences! They are knocked about like egg-shells, and sometimes crushed as easily.'

On paper laid down on watermarked 'John Hall 1832' backing paper. Please note the small size of this artwork. One of a set of six miniatures that we have for sale.