Canaletto unknown architectural sketch to be auctioned in England

A previously unknown architectural sketch by the 18th-century Italian master Canaletto is set to be auctioned in Oxford, England. The work, a 'capriccio'—a composition based on the artist's imagination—has remained in a single family's private collection for two centuries.

Expert Charles Bentinck has authenticated the piece, dating it between 1746 and 1755, a period during which the Venetian artist was active in England. The sketch depicts a ruined Renaissance portico framed by climbing plants and trees, situated near a waterway with a wooden footbridge and a cylindrical tower. A handwritten note on the back reads: ‘A gift from Mr. Canal known as Canaletto’.

Mallams auction house expects the piece to fetch between $53,000 and $79,000. While Canaletto is widely celebrated for his precise landscapes of Venice and London, his imaginative capricci were highly esteemed by his Italian contemporaries and may have been among his most significant works.