(Udine 1663–1730 Venice)
An idealised harbour scene with a fort and a horseman in the foreground,
oil on canvas, 94 x 137 cm, framed

Literature:
A. Rizzi, Disegni, incisioni e bozzetti del Carlevarijs, exhibition catalogue, Udine 1963, illustrated pl. XXII;
A. Rizzi, Luca Carlevarijs, Venice 1967, p. 94, illustrated pl. 90 (with measurements 86 x 130 cm);
D. Succi and A. Delneri, Luca Carlevarijs, Gorizia 2015, p. 290, cat. no. 146, illustrated (with measurements 86 x 130 cm)

This work depicts the view of a bay, with the ruins of an ancient building, which is probably a fortress at the centre of the composition. A bridge with two arches connects it to the foreground shore. Various figures and riders are seen crossing the bridge while to the left men are unloading goods from some moored boats.

This veduta ideata or imaginary view is a fine example of a Luca Carlevarijs´ oeuvre and can be stylistically compared to his Paesaggio con architetture in the Museo Civico, Vicenza, which is signed and dated 1712. The atmosphere of the scene, the depth of landscape, the rendering of the figures on horseback and the freshness of the brushstrokes is of equal quality in both works.

Luca Carlevarijs was born in Udine but soon moved to Venice where he spent his entire career: this began with his specialisation in the creation of large imaginary and marine views. In the later half of the 1680s he travelled to Rome to complete his training where, amongst others, he was able to study the paintings of Salvator Rosa, Claude Lorraine and the landscape painters from Northern Europe, all of whom were to profoundly mark his subsequent artistic production.

His first views of the city of Venice likely date to the earliest years of the eighteenth century: these not only brought him great fame but they also mark the beginning of the greatest epoch in view painting. Alongside his production of Venetian vedute, Carlevarijs continued to create imaginary views such as the present work. Although dependent on his early models enriched by the memory of his roman experiences, these later vedute ideate now reveal a new and potently expressive maturity.