View of the Courtyard of the Doge's Palace, Venice

Michiel Giovanni Marieschi (Venice 1696 – Venice 1743). Oil painting on canvas, View of the Courtyard of the Doge's Palace, Venice by Michiel Giovanni Marieschi (Venice 1696 – Venice 1743). View of the courtyard within a series of grand buildings, in the distance can be seen the domes of St Marks, the buildings on the right rise above a two tier colonade with classical detailing mirroring the Library in the Piazza nearby, and the building to the left is of an earlier period.This varies the view found in one of Marieschi's set of engravings of Venice published in 1741, and is a composition that he painted more than once on this scale. The first was probably the picture painted for Field-Marshal von der Schulenburg in 1736, but in view of the difference in quality between both the present picture and the version sold from the Bromley-Davenport collection at Capesthorne in 1976, and the Rialto Bridge with the festive entry of the Patriarch, it is unlikely that either can be identified with that picture, despite the last record of it being its sale at Christie's in 1775. Instead, one or other of the two must be identifiable with the painting of the same subject and size that was sold at Christie's as a fresh importation in 1771. Osterley Park and House, London (Accredited Museum)