Caprice with an arch

Caprice with an Arch at Ca' Rezzonico combines real and imaginary architecture in the capriccio tradition. Carlevarijs produced both topographically accurate vedute and inventive architectural fantasies for his international clientele. Carlevarijs was the founding figure of Venetian veduta painting, establishing the genre of precise urban views before Canaletto transformed it into an international export commodity. His etchings documenting Venice's palaces and churches (1703) provided the con...

The archway frames a view through to a more distant scene, creating spatial recession. The architectural details are rendered with Carlevarijs' characteristic precision.