A Gondolier

Carlevarijs's study of a gondolier captures one of Venice's most iconic figures — the oarsmen who propelled the city's primary vehicles through its canal network. Gondoliers occupied a distinctive social position: servants to the aristocracy who commissioned private gondolas, they were simultaneously among the most visible and most independent of Venice's working class, licensed by the Republic and organized into their own guild. Their costume — straw hat, white shirt, sash, dark breeches — was sufficiently standardized to be immediately recognizable, and Carlevarijs studied it carefully to ensure authentic representation in the canal scenes and regatta paintings that formed part of his vedute output.

The gondolier's characteristic stance and costume are captured with practiced fluency. The figure suggests the physical strength and balance required of the profession, with the posture implying the act of rowing or poling the gondola.