(Venice 1712–1793)
The Immaculate Conception,
oil on canvas, 43.5 x 36.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

Literature:
A. Morassi, Settecento veneziano inedito, in: Arte veneta 3.1949, 1950, p. 83, no.81;
A. Morassi, Guardi, L’opera completa di Antonio e Francesco Guardi, Venice 1973, p. 344, cat. 197, fig. 216;
L. R. Bortolatto, L’opera completa di Francesco Guardi, Milano 1974, pp. 111-112, no. 385


In line with the iconographic tradition of representations of the Immaculate Conception, the present painting shows the Madonna standing on a crescent moon amidst clouds, her transfigured gaze directed towards heaven. Between her feet appears a serpent carrying an apple in its mouth, an allusion to the Fall of Man.

The present painting stands out for its atmospheric qualities, achieved by the facile and dynamic brushwork typical of Guardi’s maturity. In terms of colouring, an overall pale palette mixed with silvery tones and blues prevails.

A second version of the Immaculate Conception by Guardi exists that is considerably larger than the present compostion (168 x 69 cm); it features a more pronounced upright rectangular composition with an arched top (M. Crespi Collection; Morassi 1973, cat. 196, fig. 215) in which a figure closely resembling the present Madonna is embedded in a much vaster heavenly zone (populated by three angels instead of two). Morassi dates the present painting into the period between 1760 and 1770 and believes that the larger version was painted ten years earlier. A preliminary drawing on which both compositions may have been based is in the Museo Correr in Venice (see R. Pallucchini (ed.) I disegni del Guardi al Museo di Venezia, Venezia 1943 p. 38, n. 8).