A Lady Seen in Profile

Luca Carlevarijs, (1663-1730) was an Italian painter, engraver and architect particularly known for his views of Venice. Although he was more than simply a view painter, much of his work was certainly in the genre later made popular by Canaletto and Francesco Guardi. In 1679 Carlevaris moved to Venice and is said to have made a trip to Rome in 1698. In 1703 he published Le fabriche e vedute di Venezia disegnate poste in prospettiva et intagliate da Luca Carlevaris which included 104 views of Venice. It was the most complete survey of the fabric of the city ever produced and served as a model for Venetian view painters throughout the 18th century. This study of a woman in profile is one of Carlevarijs’ studies known as macchiette, the quick sketches he made with daubs of colour to indicate animated Venetian figures.

Carlevarijs first drew the figures on paper, copying them from people he saw in the streets and then transformed them into lively oil sketches, such as this one, which represent a crucial part of his artistic process. Studies such as these would ultimately form part of a Venetian veduta or prospect painting, which is a genre Carlevarijs is generally credited with establishing in the eighteenth century. This figure appears for example in the right foreground of A View of Piazza San Marco, towards the Basilica (Milan, Private Collection) and in the lower right of The Entry of the Imperial Ambassador, Count of Colloredo, into Palazzo Ducale (Dresden, Staatliche Gemäldegalerie).