The Piazzetta, Venice, seen from the Molo
oil on canvas, 93 x 131 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

We are grateful to Bernard Aikema for suggesting an attribution to Luca Carlevarijs (Udine 1663–1730 Venice) after examining the present painting in the original.

We are also grateful to Mauro Lucco for independently confirming the attribution to Luca Carlevarijs (Udine 1663–1730 Venice) after examining the present painting in the original.

Carlevarjis came from the Friulan capital, Udine, but arrived in Venice at a young age. His first dated work of 1708 is a series of more than 100 prints showing the monuments of Venice; an epochal cycle which marks the beginning of her interest in view painting or vedutismo. Carlevarijs’ painted vedute were strongly influenced by Netherlandish painting and not just by Gaspar van Wittel, Gaspare Vanvitelli, who is usually considered the founder of such view painting in Italy, but also by Dutch late 18th century italianate painters such as Jan Asselijn, Jan Baptist Weenix, and, especially, Johannes Lingelbach. Carlevarijs is the first view painter of 18th century Venice, and the great forerunner of Canaletto.

The present picture shows one of Carlevarijs’ favourite views: The Piazzetta, seen from the Molo, towards Saint Mark’s. The stage is set by the two large columns of Saint Theodore of Amasea and Saint Mark. On the right looms the broad front of the Ducal Palace, with the side façade of Saint Mark’s basilica further to the back. On the left, the view ends with the façade of Sansovino’s library. In all known versions of this traditionally celebrated view (San Diego, Timken Art Museum, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art) Carlevarijs took a position slightly towards the left of the Piazzetta. In the present picture the viewpoint is even further towards the left; indeed, Saint Mark’s is only partially visible, whereas the Torre dell’ Orologio, which closes Saint Mark’s Square on the far side and appears in the back of all other versions, is hidden behind the protruding corner of the Library, in the foreground. As such, the present composition is a novel variant of the theme. It is notoriously difficult to date Carlevarijs’ vedute, but the light, blond overall tonality, the lively figures moving freely around the square and the relatively loose brushwork seem to indicate that the present painting originates from the artist’s maturity, that is to say the second or even the third decade of the eighteenth century.