Lot 352: JOACHIM MANUEL DA ROCHA LISBON 1727 - 1786

THE BURNING OF A SHIP ON THE RIVER TAGUS, LISBON, WITH ONLOOKERS IN THE FOREGROUND, THE CASTLE OF SAO JORGE BEYOND

THE BURNING OF A SHIP ON THE RIVER TAGUS, LISBON, WITH ONLOOKERS IN THE FOREGROUND, THE CASTLE OF SAO JORGE BEYOND

measurements note
48 by 67.5 cm.; 18 7/8 by 26 1/2 in.

signed and inscribed lower left: Rocha inv/ et pinx

oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 27 January 2000, lot 139, where acquired by the present owner (identified as the burning of the frigate Graca Divina in the harbour of La Valetta, Malta).

NOTE

According to an inscription by the artist, the scene records the burning of a ship on the southern stretch of the river Tagus, Lisbon, which took place at 4 o' clock in the afternoon of 5th September 1771. The composition is known in at least one other version by Rocha, a painting (signed, 40 by 64 cm.) today in the Espírito Santo Foundation, Lisbon. That painting however reveals numerous changes to the present version, principally in the disposition of the vessels and the topographical depiction of the Castle of Sao Jorge.