A pen-and-brown-ink drawing by eighteenth-century Italian master Canaletto that remained out of public view for hundreds of years is set to hit the auction block on October 21, Artnet News reports. The drawing, which depicts a crumbling stone arcade spanning a body of water, is being sold by Oxford, UK, auction house Mallams, where it is expected to fetch between £40,000 and £60,000 ($53,000 to $79,000).
Canaletto, a prominent member of the Venetian school, is best known for his breathtaking oil paintings of Venice and London. He is said to have been fond of capricci—works showing ruins or imagined structures and vistas—of which this work is a prime example.
“His capriccio pictures form a small portion of Canaletto’s oeuvre and this drawing includes many elements typical of this genre: monumental architectural structures, ruins, water, and groups of figures, known as staffage,” art historian John Rolfe told Artnet News. “They show brilliant observation, an eye for detail, but also imagination, fantasy, and drama.”
Dating to between 1746 and 1755, the hitherto unrecorded drawing is shown by an inscription on the back to have been a gift. It is believed to have been purchased by composer Charles Burney in the waning years of the eighteenth century and passed down to his heirs. Canaletto expert Charles Beddington authenticated the drawing, which was likely a preparatory sketch for a painting last sold in 1995 for $354,000 (about $766,000 in today’s dollars).