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John Thomas Serres(British, 1759-1825)Vedutta (sic) del Castel Vecchio a Livorno (View of the Old Castle at Leghorn) 45.7 x 61cm. (18 x 24 in.)
Sold for £10,560 inc. premium
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Find your local specialistJohn Thomas Serres (British, 1759-1825)
signed 'Giov i T. Serres' and dated 1797 (lower left), bears signature, title and date 1797 on reverse
oil on canvas
45.7 x 61cm. (18 x 24 in.)
Footnotes
The city of Leghorn, now known as Livorno, was Italy’s greatest entry-port in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, owing much of its prosperity to the influence of the Medici family in nearby Florence. Shown on the left of this work, in some detail, is the Fortezza Vecchia (built 1521-34), which not only guarded and dominated the harbour but also incorporated the massive round tower said to date back to the ninth or tenth century. Faintly visible on the skyline in the centre is the celebrated lighthouse, constructed on a rock in the harbour in 1304 and a remarkable monument which has attracted admiring visitors for centuries. One of the countless early tourists was the English diarist John Evelyn who, upon seeing the elaborate structure in 1644, could only marvel at its “divers fanales [finials] and skonces.”





















