Footnotes

• According to John Munday, Cooke painted this type of vessel on several occasions. He commented that an old nautical dictionary described a bombardo as 'A Mediterranean vessel with two masts like a ketch' and he went on to say 'what seems to have intrigued Cooke is the fact that the falls are hanging from the davits, awaiting the return of the small boat or tender or dinghy. It shows that there is purposeful seagoing activity, something the artist was always keen to portray.
  The time of day is his favourite, and as it oil on paper he probably painted the view on a sketching block from his gondola-studio. San Giorgio Maggiore is on the left with the cluster of Santa Maria della Salute and the Dogana topped by its golden ball grandly rising beyond the bombardo. At right lies the entrance to the Grand Canal.'
  Cooke's dairy entry of 22 April 1851 notes "Painted all day on small picture of Giudecca sunset with Gesuati. Soaking wet day"
  
  For a similar composition, see John Munday, 'EW Cooke - A Man of his Time', ref. 51/19, illustrated page 346.
  
  We would like to thank John Munday for his kind assistance in cataloguing this lot.