.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Born in El Escorial, Madrid, Rico first studied under his brother, the engraver Bernardino Rico (1825-1894), and later at the Escuela de
Bellas Artes de San Fernando under the professor of landscape painting, Jenaro Pirez Villamil. In 1862 Rico was given a scholarship
to study in Paris. The artist went on to achieve many honors while exhibiting at the 1878 and 1889 Expositions Universelles in Paris, as well as the Paris Salon and the Exposición Nacional in Madrid. He also held the significant post of Artistic Director of the journal Ilustración Espanola y Americana.
It was Rico's first journey to Italy in 1872 that set the stage for his future formation as an painter and solidify his commercial career. Accompanied by the painter Mariano Fortuny, Rico became so enamored of the Italian landscape that a prolific output of paintings celebrating the country ensued thereafter. He was above all awestruck by the majesty of Venice, whose sites he went on to capture in innumerable paintings. Although he made Paris his permanent home in 1879, he continued to spend each summer painting in a rented palazzo in Venice.
The present work is a brilliant depiction of Palazzo Labia, an important 17th century palazzo commissioned by the wealthy Labia family, originally of Spanish origin. Designed by the architects Tremignon and Cominelli, the vast residence stands at the junction of the Cannareggio Canal and the Grand Canal in the parish of San Geremia. The palazzo is unique in that it displays not only a rich frontal facade but also elaborately decorated side facades, a rarity among Venetian palazzi, most of which reserved the most formal decoration for the waterfront facade. This attention to detail on the side facades was a further indication of the Labia's wealth.
Rico's view of the palazzo is from the Grand Canal side and highlights the smaller of the three facades with a three-bayed facade. The Church of San Geremia with its bell tower at left seems almost a part of the residence itself. While the architecture is a fine example of the light and airy Venetian Gothic style, the palazzo is most celebrated for containing one of the most remarkable rooms in Venice, if not Europe, its frescoed ballroom painted between 1746 and 1747 by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. The fresco cycle, which covers the side walls and ceiling depicts The Meeting of Anthony and Cleopatra and The Banquet of Cleopatra and is staged within illusory architecture lending a theatrical character to the cycle. This commission was to be one of Tiepolo's most important and still stands today as the greatest secular decoration he ever produced in Venice.
This work has been authenticated by Mrs. Claude Rico.
Bellas Artes de San Fernando under the professor of landscape painting, Jenaro Pirez Villamil. In 1862 Rico was given a scholarship
to study in Paris. The artist went on to achieve many honors while exhibiting at the 1878 and 1889 Expositions Universelles in Paris, as well as the Paris Salon and the Exposición Nacional in Madrid. He also held the significant post of Artistic Director of the journal Ilustración Espanola y Americana.
It was Rico's first journey to Italy in 1872 that set the stage for his future formation as an painter and solidify his commercial career. Accompanied by the painter Mariano Fortuny, Rico became so enamored of the Italian landscape that a prolific output of paintings celebrating the country ensued thereafter. He was above all awestruck by the majesty of Venice, whose sites he went on to capture in innumerable paintings. Although he made Paris his permanent home in 1879, he continued to spend each summer painting in a rented palazzo in Venice.
The present work is a brilliant depiction of Palazzo Labia, an important 17th century palazzo commissioned by the wealthy Labia family, originally of Spanish origin. Designed by the architects Tremignon and Cominelli, the vast residence stands at the junction of the Cannareggio Canal and the Grand Canal in the parish of San Geremia. The palazzo is unique in that it displays not only a rich frontal facade but also elaborately decorated side facades, a rarity among Venetian palazzi, most of which reserved the most formal decoration for the waterfront facade. This attention to detail on the side facades was a further indication of the Labia's wealth.
Rico's view of the palazzo is from the Grand Canal side and highlights the smaller of the three facades with a three-bayed facade. The Church of San Geremia with its bell tower at left seems almost a part of the residence itself. While the architecture is a fine example of the light and airy Venetian Gothic style, the palazzo is most celebrated for containing one of the most remarkable rooms in Venice, if not Europe, its frescoed ballroom painted between 1746 and 1747 by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. The fresco cycle, which covers the side walls and ceiling depicts The Meeting of Anthony and Cleopatra and The Banquet of Cleopatra and is staged within illusory architecture lending a theatrical character to the cycle. This commission was to be one of Tiepolo's most important and still stands today as the greatest secular decoration he ever produced in Venice.
This work has been authenticated by Mrs. Claude Rico.