The Lottery in Piazza di Montecitorio, Rome

Giovanni Paolo Panini (1691-1765)

National Gallery

1747

View of crowds assembled to witness the drawing of lottery numbers on the balcony of the Palazzo di Montecitorio in Rome. The winning numbers flutter down to the eager people below. Lotteries originated in Venice as private games but were so popular and lucrative that they were taken over by city authorities. Panini was the most famous and successful townscape painter in 18th-century Rome. This work was acquired with assistance from the Wolfson Foundation.

• Medium: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 105 x 165cm
• Art Fund Grant: £150000 ( Total: £1,840,687; Tax Remission)
• ArtFunded in: 2006
• Vendor: The N R Colville Will Trust

Provenance

Painted for Cardinal Domenico Orsini (1719-1789), Rome; Count Peter Andreivich Shouvaloff / Shuvalov (1827-1889), St Petersburg; Sophie, wife of Count Alexander Benckendorff (1848-1917); Count Constantin Benckendorff (1880-1959); Thomas Agnew and Sons Ltd, London (1934); Colonel Norman Colville, London (1937); the N R Colville Will Trust.

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