(Mechelen 1795–1872 Venice) Venice, View of the Piazzetta San Marco and View of the Grand Canal, signed, inscribed and dated F. Vervloet Venezia 1841, and signed, dated F. Vervloet 1843, oil on canvas, 32.5 x 43 cm and 33.5 x 44.5 cm, framed, (2), (GG)

Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by the great-grandfather of the current owner.
Private collection, Italy;

Frans Vervloet made several excursions around Europe and Constantinople during his career and was a meticulous recorder if his experiences. Having spent his childhood in Mechelen between Brussels and Antwerp, he left for Italy in 1822.
His formative years were spent in Rome where he developed his interest in view painting.
His paintings became increasingly influenced by other Contemporary European Artists working in Italy such as Francois Granet (1775-1849) who was a highly accomplished landscapist and a Church Interior Painter.
He spent the first 3 years in Rome before settling in Naples and then permanently in Venice.
In Naples he met Anton Sminck van Pitloo (1791-1837), the leader of the ‘Posilippo School’ who had a great influence on his works from that period. By the early 1840s the artist had already established himself as one of the Serenissims’s foremost view painter.
The beauty of Venice, the floating city, has been an inspiration to artists throughout the centuries. Franz Vervloet was one of many artists from all over Europe including for instance Franz Richard Unterberger (1838-1902) to settle in Venice in order to take advantage of this boom.
Venice views were popular in the 19th Century. Demand had begun in the 18th century, the age of the Grand Tour, when wealthy young travelers would commission the likes of Antonio Canaletto (1697-1768) and Francesco Guardi (1712-1793) to paint panoramic vedute as souvenirs of their travels to Italy.

The present lot was painted in the years 1841-43.
The views looks east towards the end of the Canal Grande with the Punta della Dogana in the foreground and the Palazzo dei Dogi with the Campanile di San Marco on the left-hand side.
The Punta della Dogana is situated at the entrance of the Grand Canal and was acting as customs house for all boats entering Venice.
Immediately in front of us Frans Vervloet strives to depict the people of Venice and the gentle glide of the gondoliers on the Canal Grande.

The pendant shows the Piazzetta San Marco with the Basilica on the left-hand side and in the distance the Basilica di Santa Maria Della Salute.