Warwick Castle

The Norman castle of Warwick is located in the West Midlands of England, about twenty miles southeast of Birmingham. It is seen here from the south, with two bridges on the left leading across Castle Meadow, a small island in the River Avon, and a third, much larger bridge on the far right. The earthen rampart to the west of the castle was created in the year 914 by Ethelfreda, daughter of Alfred the Great. Most of the existing building dates from the first half of the sixteenth century; Caesar’s Tower, at the eastern end of the castle, was constructed in the first half of the fourteenth century. On the far right is a glimpse of the town of Warwick and the spire of Saint Nicholas Church. When Canaletto made the painting, the property belonged to Francis Greville (1719–1773), Lord Brooke, later first Earl of Warwick. In the late 1740s Greville hired Lancelot "Capability" Brown (1716–1783) as an architect and landscape gardener to renovate the castle and to carry out extensive changes in the park.

Canaletto made five paintings of the castle, three of the south front (The Met; Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid; Yale Center for British Art, New Haven), one of the east front (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery), and one of the courtyard (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery) and five highly finished drawings, one of the south front (Christie’s, New York, January 28, 2020, lot 75), one of the east front (1975.1.297), one of the courtyard (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles), and two of the town (Yale Center for British Art; The British Museum, London). For his work at Warwick he received payments from Lord Brooke’s account at Hoare’s Bank in July 1748, March 1749, and March and July 1752; he also received a payment from Brooke’s estate accounts in July 1748. Although it is generally agreed that the payments indicate that Canaletto made two visits to Warwick before his brief trip to Venice, in 1751, and one following his return, it is more likely that he stopped at Warwick only twice, in 1748 and again in 1752.

The Wrightsman canvas apparently shows the castle as Canaletto first saw it in the spring of 1748, with construction work already under way beneath Ethelfreda’s Mound. (The first payment to Capability Brown dates from December 1749.) A canvas in the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, shows essentially the same scene, with more foreground, less sky, different figures, and after the replacement of the two largest windows in the state apartments. In August 1748 a visitor wrote that "the windows of it are new, but made in the Gothic style and very pretty" (Buttery 1987, p. 439). With their bright white frames, they are quite conspicuous in the Yale painting. A version in the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, differs from the Wrightsman and Yale paintings in having a closer viewpoint, with the castle seen at an angle: the mill and weir at the base of Caesar’s Tower have been eliminated, large trees have been added below and to the left of the castle, and the Scots pine at the top of Ethelfreda’s Mound and a wooden bridge on the left have been overpainted—it is an ideal view of what the grounds would look like after Brown’s improvements. Scholars have speculated about which payments are for which pictures, but only the Wrightsman painting can be firmly dated because it shows the old Jacobean windows.

As the painting is about one-fourth the size of the Yale and Thyssen canvases, it may be possible to identify it as the small painting for which Canaletto was paid ten guineas by one of Brooke’s rent receivers on July 28, 1748. Although the estate-accounts volume describes the cash payment as "To Seignr Canal for his Drawings of Warwick Castle," Canaletto's receipt states that the payment was for "a little picture that I painted of My Lord’s castle" (Buttery 1987, p. 439). The composition of the only extant drawing by Canaletto of the south front corresponds quite closely with that of the Yale canvas, and its highly finished character suggests that it was executed after the painting rather than as a preparatory study for it as some writers have assumed (Buttery 1987 and Contini 2002). No doubt Canaletto made working drawings on the spot, similar to his free studies of the Grand Canal in the Cagnola sketchbook in the Accademia, Venice, and later used them to work up paintings and independent drawings in his London studio.

[2019; adapted from Fahy 2005]

Francis Greville, Earl Brooke, later Earl of Warwick, London (until d. 1773); Earls of Warwick, London, later Warwick Castle, Warwickshire (1773–1969); David Robin Francis Guy Greville, later 8th Earl of Warwick, Warwick Castle (1969–77; sold to Smith); Robert H. Smith, Washington, D.C. (1977–90; consigned to Carritt); [David Carritt, London, 1990; sold to Wrightsman]; Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, New York (1990–d. 2019; cat., 2005, no. 21)

Venice. Palazzo Ducale. "I vedutisti veneziani del Settecento," June 10–October 15, 1967, no. 78 (lent by the Conte di Warwick).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Bellini to Tiepolo: Summer Loans at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 29–August 31, 1993, unnum. checklist.

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT, BY TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION BY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.

W[illiam]. F[ield]. An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Town & Castle of Warwick. Warwick, 1815, p. 219, relates that "Canaletto once resided at the Castle, under the patronage of the late Earl of Warwick, who, amongst other works, employed him in painting views of the Castle. Of these, four large pictures [Constable and Links 1989, nos. 443, 445–47] were highly finished by him, and were afterwards removed to London, to adorn the town residence of the Earls of Warwick.".

H. T. Cooke. An Historical and Descriptive Guide to Warwick Castle. 2nd ed. [1841], p. 76 [see Buttery 1987], refers to the four paintings as hanging at the third Earl's London home in Carlton Gardens.

H. T. Cooke. Present State of the Castle. Warwick, [1846] [see Buttery 1987], describes the four paintinggs as hanging in the Billiard Room at Warwick Castle.

Henry T. Cooke. An Historical and Descriptive Guide to Warwick Castle, Kenilworth Castle, Guy's Cliff, Stoneleigh Abbey, the Beauchamp Chapel, and Other Places of Interest in the Neighbourhood. 5th ed. Warwick, 1847, p. 83 [6th ed., 1849, p. 84], lists it in the Billiard Room at Warwick Castle, as "Small view of the 'Castle from the Temple Fields,' with part of the town and St. Nicholas' church, by Canaletto".

Hilda F. Finberg. "Canaletto in England." Walpole Society 9 (1921), pp. 41, 68, lists five paintings of Warwick Castle by Canaletto in the collection of the Earl of Warwick, describing this picture as "View of the south front with Ethelfleda's Mount and the river Avon," 18 x 30 inches, and also recording a drawing of the same view (Constable and Links 1989, no. 758).

Rodolfo Pallucchini. La pittura veneziana del Settecento. Venice, 1960, p. 110, dates the views of the town and castle of Warwick a few years after 1747.

W. G. Constable. Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697–1768. Oxford, 1962, vol. 1, p. 142; vol. 2, pp. 398–99, 535, no. 443, tentatively dates all four paintings of Warwick Castle (CL443, 445–47) to 1748; finds the drawing (CL758) much closer to the Yale painting (CL444) than to this one, and suggests that the Yale work "may have been made later, entirely from the drawing".

Pietro Zampetti. I vedutisti veneziani del Settecento. Exh. cat., Palazzo Ducale. Venice, 1967, pp. 172–73, no. 78, ill. (overall and detail).

Lionello Puppi in The Complete Paintings of Canaletto. New York, 1968, p. 116, no. 290A, ill. p. 115, colorpls. LVII, LVIII (overall and detail), dates all three views of the south front of Warwick Castle (CL443–45) about 1751.

W. G. Constable. Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697–1768. Ed. J. G. Links. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1976, vol. 1, p. 142; vol. 2, pp. 429, 584, no. 443.

J. G. Links. Canaletto and His Patrons. London, 1977, p. 68.

John Harris. The Artist and the Country House: A History of Country House and Garden View Painting in Britain 1540–1870. London, 1979, pp. 307, 316, dates this view before about 1749, when Capability Brown began work on the park, and dates the Thyssen and other two views (CL445–47) about 1753, when Brown began work on the castle itself.

J. G. Links. Canaletto in England. January 21, 1981 [published in Journal of the Royal Society of Arts 129 (April 1981), p. 304].

Egidio Martini. La pittura del Settecento veneto. Udine, 1982, p. 80, fig. 740.

J. G. Links in Canaletto: disegni - dipinti - incisioni. Ed. Alessandro Bettagno. Exh. cat., Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice. Vicenza, 1982, p. 76.

J. G. Links. Canaletto. Ithaca, N.Y., 1982, pp. 156, 158, pl. 147.

Highly Important Paintings by Old Masters from an American Private Collection. Christie's, New York. May 9, 1985, p. 55, under no. 18.

David Buttery. "Canaletto at Warwick." Burlington Magazine 129 (July 1987), pp. 439–42, 444–45, fig. 14, records five payments made to Canaletto by Warwick and one receipt in Canaletto's hand, and discusses how they relate to the five paintings and three drawings of the castle; associates the first payment (£58 on July 19, 1748) with the MMA and Thyssen paintings, the second payment and receipt from Canaletto (10 guineas on July 28, 1748) with the drawing CL758, the third payment (£31.10 on March 3, 1749) with the Yale painting, and the last two payments (£33.12 on March 24, 1752; £50 on July 27, 1752) with the two paintings of the east front and the two related drawings; believes the MMA picture must be the earliest of the paintings, dating from late 1747 or early 1748, because it depicts the castle before the installation of new windows; notes that although the Yale version (CL444) cannot be documented in the Warwick collection, its known provenance makes this almost certain.

David Ekserdjian. Old Master Paintings from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection. Ed. MaryAnne Stevens. Exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts. Milan, 1988, p. 38, under no. 9, dates it 1748.

Katharine Baetjer and J. G. Links. Canaletto. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1989, pp. 238, 240, under no. 68.

W. G. Constable. Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697–1768. Ed. J. G. Links. 2nd ed., reissued with supplement and additional plates. Oxford, 1989, vol. 1, pp. lxv–lxvi, 142, pl. 237; vol. 2, pp. 429, 584, 739, no. 443, Links disagrees with Buttery (1987), believing that the receipt in Canaletto's hand dated July 28, 1748, is for the MMA work, not the drawing (CL758).

Artemis 89–90: Consolidated Audited Annual Report (1990), p. 26, no. 10, ill. p. 27 and front cover (color, overall and detail).

José Manuel Pita Andrade and María del Mar Borobia Guerrero. Old Masters: Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. [Madrid?], 1992, p. 384, under no. 78.

David Buttery. Canaletto and Warwick Castle. Chichester, 1992, pp. 22–23, 57, 60, colorpl. 9.

John Russell. "An Assortment of Very-Welcome Summer Guests." New York Times (August 6, 1993), p. C24.

J. G. Links. Canaletto. London, 1994, p. 168, colorpl. 151, of the five payments made by Warwick to Canaletto (see Buttery 1987), proposes that the first one was for the MMA and Yale paintings, the third for one of the two pictures of the east front, and the fourth and fifth, of 1752, for the Thyssen painting and the other view of the east front; does not mention the second payment or Canaletto's receipt; gives the amount of the final payment as £30, not £50.

Old Master Drawings. Sotheby's, London. July 2, 1997, pp. 54, 56, under no. 53, dates the three paintings and drawing of the south front to Canaletto's first visit to Warwick, and the two paintings and two drawings of the east front to the second; associates the second payment from Warwick to Canaletto (of ten guineas) with the drawing of the south front (CL758).

J. G. Links. A Supplement to W. G. Constable's Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697–1768. London, 1998, pp. 41–42, pl. 237, with the assistance of Buttery, summarizes the payments to Canaletto as follows: the first payment (£58; July 19, 1748) was for the MMA and Thyssen paintings, the second payment and receipt from Canaletto (10 guineas; July 28, 1748) for the drawing CL758, the third payment (£31.10; March 3, 1749) for the Yale painting, the fourth (£33.12; March 24, 1752) for CL446, and the fifth (£50, July 27, 1752) for CL447 and two drawings CL759–60 [mistakenly lists the two drawings as CL758 and CL759].

Julia Marciari Alexander in This Other Eden: Paintings from the Yale Center for British Art. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of New South Wales. New Haven, 1998, p. 72, under no. 23, dates all three paintings of the south front to 1748–49: MMA version first, then Thyssen, then Yale.

Roberto Contini. The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Painting. London, 2002, pp. 264, 266–68, under no. 56, believes the drawing CL758 is preparatory for the MMA painting and calls the Yale picture a replica based on the drawing; thoroughly discusses the sequence of the depictions of Warwick castle, stating that the third payment (£31.10; March 3, 1749) must refer to the Yale painting, but reserving judgment on which payment refers to the MMA work.

Everett Fahy in The Wrightsman Pictures. Ed. Everett Fahy. New York, 2005, pp. 72–74, no. 21, ill. (color), believes the payment from the Warwick estate accounts and Canaletto's receipt for it (10 guineas; July 28, 1748) may refer to the MMA picture; calls the drawing CL758 a ricordo after the Yale painting.

Bozena Anna Kowalczyk. Canaletto, 1697–1768. Exh. cat., Museo di Roma-Palazzo Braschi, Rome. Cinisello Balsamo, Milan, 2018, p. 176, under no. 50.

Robin Pogrebin. "The Met is Given Hundreds of Artworks." New York Times (November 16, 2019), p. C3 [online ed., "A Trustee Leaves Trove of Old Masters Works to the Met," November 13, 2019; https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/arts/design/bequest-met-museum-wrightsman.html].

Hakim Bishara. "A Glorious Gift of European Artworks Is on Display at the Metropolitan Museum." Hyperallergic. November 19, 2019, ill. (color, installation views) [https://hyperallergic.com/528444/a-glorious-gift-of-european-artworks-is-on-display-at-the-metropolitan-museum/].

The Private Collection of Jayne Wrightsman. Christie's, New York. October 14, 2020, p. 12.

Old Master & British Drawings, Including Works from the Collection of Jean Bonna. Christie's, New York. January 28, 2020, p. 76, under no. 75, fig. 1, ill. p. 77 (color, overall and detail), same as Sotheby's, July 2, 1997, no. 53 (CL758).

Canaletto made two more paintings and a drawing of the south front of Warwick Castle:
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (1978.13). Oil on canvas, 29 1⁄2 × 47 1⁄2 in. (75 × 120.5 cm). Constable and Links 1989, no. 445.
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut (B1994.18.2). Oil on canvas, 28 1⁄2 × 47 1⁄4 in. (72.4 × 120 cm). Constable and Links 1989, no. 444.
Sold, Sotheby’s, London, July 2, 1997, no. 53. Ink and gray wash on paper, 12 1⁄2 × 22 3⁄4 in. (31.7 × 57.8 cm). Constable and Links 1989, no. 758.

Canaletto also painted two pictures of the east front of Warwick Castle, one from outside the castle (CL446) and one from the courtyard (CL447), both of which are in the City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham. Drawings related to each are, respectively, CL759 (The Met, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975.1.297) and CL760 (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 86.GG.727).

This work may not be lent, by terms of its acquisition by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.