Venice painting by Canaletto could exceed £22.5 million at auction

A painting said to be Canaletto’s “greatest” depiction of Venice during his decade spent in England is expected to sell for more than 30 million dollars (£22.5 million) at auction.

The Bucintoro At The Molo On Ascension Day, which depicts the Feast of the Ascension, marking the day Jesus Christ was taken up to heaven in his resurrected body, was last auctioned by Christie’s in July 2005 when it sold for £11,432,000.

Andrew Fletcher, global head of Christie’s Old Masters Department, told the PA news agency: “This is unquestionably Canaletto’s greatest Venetian painting painted during his decade in England, painted in 1754.

“It’s both impactful for its enormous scale, as much for its colour, sense of pomp and ceremony and grandeur, and (it is) really just thrilling to be handling its sale.”

Canaletto was the son of a theatrical scene painter and was famed for his depictions of Venice.

He visited England repeatedly between 1746 to 1756, according to the National Gallery, and painted British buildings like Eton College.

The Bucintoro At The Molo On Ascension Day was “painted by Canaletto at the point in his career where he’s just supremely confident”, Mr Fletcher said.

“He knows exactly what he’s doing, and what it shows us actually is it harks back to his training with his father as a set designer, as a painter of scenery for (Antonio) Vivaldi and for operas, for plays.

“Because what he’s done is he’s manipulated the angle of the (Palazzo) Schiavoni, that paving at the front doesn’t actually exist there, it’s more to the right.

“So he’s created almost a stage upon which he’s placed his actors, those larger figures at the front, and then the backdrop is the most spectacular scenery you could possibly imagine for the backdrop of those actors.

“So he’s sort of master choreographer in this respect, and that’s what I love about the painting.”

The oil on canvas was commissioned around 1754 by the King family (later Earls of Lovelace) and remained in their possession for almost 200 years, according to the auction house.

Following its sale in 2005, the painting was “hidden away in a very private collection” for 20 years, according to Mr Fletcher.

“Canaletto had been painting views of Venice for about 30 years by the time he painted this. So he was very well practised”, he said.

“By the time he painted this in 1754, he was supremely confident with with the brush. He knew exactly what he was doing and he built this painting up from back to front.

“So he painted the sky first, then the water, then he painted the architecture, and then he painted the figures.”

Speaking about the upcoming sale, Mr Fletcher said: “Canaletto has such massively wide international appeal that it could end up as easily in Asia, in Europe or north America.

“It’s really impossible to say at this stage, the last painting by Canaletto we sold had bidders from all three of the previously mentioned continents, and I suspect this will be exactly the same.”

Another painting of the Feast of the Ascension – Return Of The Bucintoro On Ascension Day – was made for Britain’s first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and sold at Christie’s London in July for £31,935,000.

The Bucintoro At The Molo On Ascension Day will lead the Old Master sales in New York which is having a pre-auction preview from January 29 to February 3 2026.

The painting will tour throughout November, landing at Christie’s Rockefeller Centre in New York from November 7-12, Christie’s The Henderson Hong Kong between November 20-21 and Christie’s King Street London from November 27 to December 2.