Canaletto work owned by first UK PM sells for record

A painting of Venice by the Italian artist Canaletto which was once owned by the UK's first prime minister has been sold for a record fee.

Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day - painted around 1732 - was sold to an anonymous bidder for £27.5m (£31.9m with fees) at Christie's in London on Tuesday, setting a new auction record for the artist.

The painting was hung on the walls of Number 10 Downing Street during Sir Robert Walpole's tenure from 1721 to 1742.

Christie's global head of the Old Masters Department, Andrew Fletcher, said the artwork was "unquestionably the greatest work by the artist to have come to the market in a generation".

"Seldom does a true masterpiece such as this - particularly by a painter as important as Canaletto - appear on the art market," he said.

"This extraordinary painting of the grandest and most familiar view of Venice, by the city's most recognisable painter, dates to Canaletto's finest period and is as notable for its illustrious provenance as much as for its impeccable condition."

The oil on canvas artwork was last sold at an auction in Paris in 1993, fetching what was then a record-breaking 66 million French francs (£7.5m).

It formerly came with a partnering pendant, entitled Grand Canal from Palazzo Balbi to the Rialto, which was later sold at Sotheby's in London in 2005 for £18.6m - which was the previous record auction price for a Canaletto.

The painting had been expected to sell for around £20m this time around, but exceeded expectations.

Canaletto, real name Giovanni Antonio Canal, was born in Venice in 1697 and went on to become a favourite of British art collectors.

It is not known how Sir Robert acquired his work but it is though that his son Edward helped to arrange the art deal after having spent time in Venice.

The Feast of the Ascension of Christ was a key date in the Venetian calendar until the fall of the Venice Republic in 1797.

It would see the Doge of Venice - the elected head of state - use his official galley, Bucintoro, to sail out and cast a ring into the water as a symbol of Venice's marriage to the sea.