(Venice 1771–1849)
Venice, interior of the Church of San Zaccaria, signed and dated, inscribed GBorsato F. l’anno 1830., oil on canvas, 60 x 49 cm, framed, (GG)

Provenance:
Private Collection Italy.

Exhibited:
Venice, Esposizione accademica 1838, p. 3, no. 1.

Catalogued in:
Roberto De Feo, Giuseppe Borsato 1770–1849, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice and Scripta ed., Verona 2016, p. 369, V. 89.

The authenticity of the present lot has been confirmed by Roberto De Feo on basis of the original.

This image depicts the interior of St. Zaccaria’s church in Venice, which was built between 1458 and 1515. The church is located just off the Piazza San Marco. It is dedicated to St. Zaccaria, the father of St. John the Baptist.

During his time as a student at the Academy in Venice, Giuseppe Borsato collaborated on decoration and had acquired a broad knowledge of architecture. In 1812, he was made professor of ornamentation at the Academy.

The present work is a fine example of Borsato’s mature skills. The figures in the foreground are looking at the San Zaccaria altar piece, one of Giovanni Bellini’s most famous works.
The ambulatory is lit by tall Gothic windows, a typical feature of Northern European church architecture but which can only be found within this church in Venice itself.
Every wall is covered with paintings by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century artists.