(Venice 1710–1744)
The Rialto Bridge and the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi, Venice,
oil on canvas, 50 x 65.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
with Lorenzelli, Bergamo, 1969;
Private European collection

Exhibited:
Bergamo, Galleria Lorenzelli, Venezia ‘700. Francesco Guardi e il suo tempo nelle raccolte private bergamasche, September – October 1969 (as Michele Marieschi)

Literature:
M. Valsecchi, R. Pallucchini (eds.), Venezia 700. Francesco Guardi e il suo tempo nelle raccolte private bergamasche, exhibition catalogue, Bergamo 1969, s. p., pl. XXVI (as Michele Marieschi);
A. Morassi, Una mostra di pitture veneziane del Settecento a Bergamo, in: Arte veneta. Riviste di storia dell’arte, vol. 23, 1969, p. 303 (as Michele Marieschi);
R. Toledano, Michele Marieschi. L’opera completa, Milan 1988, p. 77, no. V. 8.4 (as Michele Marieschi);
M. Manzelli, Michele Marieschi e il suo alter-ego Francesco Albotto, Venice 1991, p. 53, no. M. 8.4, not illustrated (as Michele Marieschi);
R. Toledano, Michele Marieschi, Catalogo ragionato. Seconda edizione riveduta e corretta, Milan 1995, p. 69, no. V. 10.d (as Michele Marieschi);
F. Montecuccoli degli Erri, F. Pedrocco, Michele Marieschi. La vita, l’ambiente, l’opera, Milan 1999, p. 378, no. 150 (as Michele Marieschi);
D. Succi, Michele Marieschi. Opera completa, Pordenone 2016, p. 266, 268, no. 87, illustrated p. 267 (as Michele Marieschi)

The present painting shows one of the most iconic views of Venice, the Rialto Bridge with the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi and the Fabricche Vecchie di Rialto on the right. The scene is animated by figures and boats on the canal, at the pier on the lower left two noble women are about to board a gondola.

Marieschi devoted a great deal of attention to the architectural rendering of the buildings, traced with a clear and precise drawing and later completed with fluid impasted brushstrokes. The present painting can be dated to the artist’s maturity, circa 1737–1740.

Little is known of Marieschi’s artistic training and details of his early life remain sparse. He was the son of an engraver who died when Michele was only ten years old. Eighteenth-century sources mention an apprenticeship in Germany; however, this cannot be confirmed. He was certainly influenced by the production of Gaspare Diziani, who was also a witness at his wedding. The work of his maternal grandfather, Antonio Meneghini, also played an important part in Marieschi’s training: Meneghini was a painter who specialised in stage and set design and worked with the Venetian entrepreneur Francesco Tasso on ephemeral decorations for festivals and ceremonies.