Two Studies of Men

The double study of two men continues Carlevarijs's systematic documentation of Venetian male figure types, with two contrasting costumes on a single sheet — an economical working method that doubled his useful archive from each drawing session. Carlevarijs's vedute paintings required large numbers of figures to populate the spaces of Piazza San Marco, the Grand Canal, and other sites, and the variety of costume types, poses, and social identities needed to make those crowds convincing necessitated extensive preparatory study. His figure library, preserved almost entirely in the V&A collection, represents an incomparable resource for understanding early eighteenth-century Venetian visual culture.

Two distinct figure types are rendered side by side with contrasting costumes and poses. The economical brushwork prioritizes the distinguishing characteristics of each figure — clothing, posture, and general proportions — over individual detail.