Venetian School, 17th Century – Urban Construction Scene, Brown Ink And Blue Wash – Former Attr

Venetian School, 17th Century – Urban construction scene, brown ink and blue wash – Former attribution to Giuseppe Porta, called Salviati – With collector’s mark Lugt 1151a

In the foreground, two workmen are cutting stone near an architectural block. In the background, several buildings create a linear perspective along a street lined with tall structures, with a few lightly sketched figures.

The composition is set within an oval frame drawn inside a rectangle. The drawing combines architectural study and genre elements typical of Venetian workshop production in the 17th century.

The sheet bears an old attribution to the Venetian painter Giuseppe Porta, called Salviati, recorded on an earlier document, although this attribution appears unlikely today. It nonetheless forms part of the drawing’s historical record.

On the verso is the collector’s mark G.F. (Lugt 1151a), associated with an English collector active in the early 19th century. This mark is recorded in the Frits Lugt Répertoire and has been linked by some scholars, including An van Camp (British Museum), to George Fairholme, a collector known in the 1820s–1830s. Another drawing bearing the same mark carried the handwritten note “Purchased in Italy in 1816. G. F.”, indicating that this collector acquired drawings in Italy during Grand Tour travels.

The Lugt 1151a mark is known on several drawings preserved in public collections or recorded in sales catalogues:

• British Museum, inv. 1895,0915.691 (attributed to Innocenzo Tacconi)
• British Museum, inv. 1920,1116.8 (Italian School, 17th century)
• Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, inv. 1949.32 (style of Daniele da Volterra)
• National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, inv. D.1814 (Nicholaes Maes)
• as well as various sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Beaussant-Lefèvre
  
  

The drawing is presented in a gilt wooden frame. A light-toned, slightly moulded mount surrounds the sheet, creating a neutral space and emphasizing the oval format.

Provenance: Former G.F. collection, English collector of Italian drawings, marked Lugt 1151a – probably purchased in Italy in 1816.

Dimensions of the drawing (sight): approx. 18 × 23 cm
Dimensions of the frame: approx. 29 × 36 cm