An architectural capriccio with figures in front of a ruined arch, with other ruins beyond

This previously unrecorded work relates closely to two other capricci by Guardi. One is in The National Gallery, London, from a series of three (A. Morassi, Guardi - Antonio e Francesco Guardi, Venice, 1973, I, no. 890). Another with some variations, including the addition of stone steps on the right of the canvas and more overgrown foliage on the ruins, is listed as in Lucerne (Morassi, no. 712).

The present work is the largest of these three, and corresponds with the measurements of the previous lot. An old label on the reverse of the canvas reads '2 Tableaux par Guardi' suggesting it was once one of a pair. Given the matching measurements of the two pictures, it is tempting to speculate that the present work is the lost pendant to the previous lot. It has not been possible to establish the provenance of the present picture, but if it is a pair to lot 55, the label would suggest that they were separated during or after they were in the French collection of Fauchier-Magnan.