Core Record |
| Title |
Warwick Castle, East Front |
| Collection |
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
| Artist |
Canaletto (Italian painter, 1697-1768) |
| Date |
1752 |
| Description |
The view encompasses (left to right), Caesar's Tower, the Clock Tower and entrance gate, and Guy's Tower. A porter in livery at the right appears to have recently admitted a wealthy group of visitors with their guide. The old town is glimpsed to the right. Lord Brook commissioned a series of views of Warwick Castle for his London residence. He made payments to Canaletto in 1748, 1749 and 1752. |
| Current Accession Number |
1978P173 |
| Former Accession Number |
P.173´78 |
| Subject |
landscape; buildings and gardens (Warwick Castle) |
| Measurements |
73.0 x 122 cm.0 cm (estimate) |
| Material |
oil on canvas |
| Acquisition Details |
Purchased by public subscription with the assistance of special Government grants and contributions from Charitable Trusts, Industry, Commerce, the City of Birmingham, West Midlands County Council, the National Art-Collections Fund and the Friends of Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery 1978. |
| Provenance |
Commissioned by Francis Greville, 1st Earl of Warwick; by descent to Francis Greville, Lord Brook (later 8th (?) Earl of Warwick); Marlborough Fine Art (London) Ltd. |
| Principal Exhibitions |
Masterpieces of Venetian Painting, Agnew's, 1953, cat. no. 9; Works of Art from Midland Houses, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, 1953, cat. no. 153; Canaletto: Disegni, Dipinti, Incisioni, Fondazione Cini, Venice, 1982, cat. no. 105; The Art Treasures of England, Royal Academy of Arts, 1998; NACF Centenary Regional Exhibition, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, 2003; NACF Centenary Regional Exhibition, Hayward Gallery, 2003 - 2004; Canaletto in England: A Venetian Artist Abroad 1746 - 1755, Yale Centre for British Art, 2006, and Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2006. |
| Publications |
Finberg, H., 'Canaletto in England', The Walpole Society, 1921, vol. 9, pp. 40 - 41; Constable, W. G., Canaletto, 1962 (2 vols) reprinted, 1976 and 1989, no. 446, p. 142 (1989 edition, no. 446, LXV - LXVI); Buttery, D., 'Canaletto at Warwick', Burlington Magazine, vol. (?), 1987, pp. 437 - 445; Kowa, G., Architektur der Englischen Gotik, Dumont Buchverlag Koln, 1990, p. 249, ill. 206; Foreign Paintings in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, A Summary Catalogue, 1983, no. 21, ill. |
| Notes |
One of five paintings and three drawings of Warwick Castle by Canaletto. |
| Rights Owner |
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
| Author |
Dr Patricia Smyth |
