The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Pope Pius VI Descending the Throne to Take Leave of the Doge in the Hall of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, 1782 and Pontifical Ceremony in SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, 1782 (pair)

c. 1783

Francesco Guardi

(Italian, 1712–1793)

Italy, 18th century

oil on canvas

Framed: 69.2 x 86.4 x 10.2 cm (27 1/4 x 34 x 4 in.); Unframed: 51.4 x 68.8 cm (20 1/4 x 27 1/16 in.)

Gift of the Hanna Fund 1949.187

Location: not on view

Description

From May 15-18, 1782, Pope Pius VI Braschi was in Venice, the only papal visit during the eighteenth century, an event celebrated with great festivities. Francesco Guardi (1712-1793), a native Venetian, was one of the most celebrated scenic painters of the eighteenth century, and specialized in depictions of cityscapes and the pomp and pageantry of Venetian ceremonial life. To celebrate the momentous occasion, the Englishman Peter Edwards commissioned four large scenes of the Pope's visit. The museum's two smaller paintings represent copies of the popular subject, which Guardi copied either for the open market or for other patrons. The Pontifical Ceremony (Te Deum) depicts the musical performance of Te Deum, a prayer of thanksgiving set to music by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), a famous Venetian Baroque composer. Te Deum was a traditional hymn recited in thanks to God for a special blessing, including a papal election or a royal coronation, and was appropriate for the historic papal visit. In the Reception of the Doge and Senate, the Doge, the elected prince of Venice, and Senators of the Venetian Republic process towards the throne, as the pope blesses the multitude of government leaders.

Jakob Goldschmidt, 1882-1955 (Berlin, Germany and New York, New York), by 1929, sold through
Jacques Seligman & Co. (New York, New York), to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1949.
[Galerie Matthiessen, Berlin, 1944]
Francis, Henry S. “Two Historical Pictures by Francesco Guardi.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 37, no. 3 (March 1950): 48–54. Mentioned: p. 53-54; Reproduced: p. 50-51 www.jstor.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 431 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 148 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 148 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 146 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned: p. 355-358; Reproduced: p. 357
Kerber, Peter Björn, ed. Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth-Century Europe. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2017. Reproduced: p. 3, figs. 2 & 3
Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth-Century Europe. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 25-May 20, 2018).
The Cleveland Museum of Art (02/25/2018-05/20/2018): "Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth-Century Europe"
In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-April 7, 1958).
Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956).
Views of Venice. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 11-April 26, 1953).
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Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1949.187