Jean Nicolas Servandoni (Florence 1695-1766 Paris) Figures before an obelisk, with ruins in the distance oil on canvas 110.2 x 110cm (43 3/8 x 43 5/16in). Footnotes: Provenance Sale, Christie's, London, 18 December 1980, lot 96 (as 'Ricci') With Chaucer Fine Art, London, 1983, where purchased by the present owners Literature Herinneringen aan Italie; Kunst en toerisme in de 18de eeuw exh. cat., Zwolle, 1984 p. 164 G. Sestieri, Capriccio architettonico, Rome, 2015, vol. III, p. 259, ill. pl. 4 (as attributed to) Servandoni, born in Florence to an Italian mother and French father, trained in Rome under Giovanni Paolo Panini. In the 1720s he travelled to London to begin his career as an architect and stage set designer working for the Italian Opera House at King's Theatre, Haymarket; a career that enabled him to travel through Europe. It is thought that Servandoni encountered George Friederich Handel on a trip to London in the 1740s. Although the artist is not known to have designed a set for Handel, he was involved in the organisation of the royal fireworks held in Green Park in 1749, for which Handel composed the music. When Handel's collection was offered at auction in 1760 it included a work by Servandoni 'no. 25, A Piece of Ruins'. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com