In the autumn of the same year, the artist exhibited his newly completed, 4ft 4in x 6ft 3in (1.32 x 1.9m) canvas, showing The Blessed Doge Francesco Morosini leaving Venice to fight the Turks at the Peloponnese in 1693, at the Associazione Triestina di Belle Arti in Trieste.
Since then, it had not been shown in public and for at least a century the painting had belonged to the same Italian family. The Venetian Querena specialised in highly detailed views of his home town, sometimes incorporating historical events, such as this departure of the 108th Doge, Francesco Morosini, who from 1688-94 commanded the Venetian forces during the Great Turkish War.
The painting in Vienna was estimated at €200,000-300,000. International bidders drove the price to unexpected heights, until it sold to a Europe private collector for €420,000 (£355,930).
That is four times the previous auction record for the artist, which was also held by Dorotheum, since Querena’s Riva degli Schiavoni sold in Vienna for €100,000 in April 2019.
