Lot 424: Thomas Patch , Exeter 1725 - 1782 Florence A View of the River Arno with the Ponte alle Grazie, Florence oil on canvas

oil on canvas

measurements note 33 1/2 by 67 1/8 in.; 85 by 170.5 cm.

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, May 27, 1921, lot 136 (as attributed to William Marlow).

This idyllic view shows the city of Florence and the Ponte Alle Grazie from the banks of the River Arno. Constructed in 1237 and originally conceived with nine arches, the Ponte Alle Grazie, which connects the Via dei Benci and Piazza de' Mozzi, was one of the first bridges to be built in the city of Florence.

The Ponte Alle Grazie was the only bridge to survive the great floods of 1333; however, it did not fare as well under military attack, as it was destroyed by the Germans in 1944. This picture is therefore an important historic document of the early appearance of this medieval structure.

Three other variants of this composition by Thomas Patch are recorded: one was sold London, Sotheby's, March 9, 1988, lot 64, for £16,500; another is in the collection of the Marquess of Cholmondeley at Houghton Hall, which was one of a pair delivered to Horace Walpole from Sir Horace Mann in December 1771;υ1 and the third was sold London, Sotheby's, July 5, 1967, lot 7. 1 F. J. B. Watson, " The Life of Thomas Patch," in Walpole Society
XXVIII p. 39, no. 26.