Capriccio with the Neptune Fountain

This capriccio with the Neptune Fountain at Ca' Rezzonico demonstrates Carlevarijs' role as the pioneer of Venetian veduta painting before Canaletto. Working in the late seventeenth century, he established the genre of precise architectural views that Canaletto would perfect. 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 pal...

The fountain provides a compositional focal point within the imagined architectural setting. Carlevarijs' somewhat stiffer handling predates the fluid precision that Canaletto would bring to the genre.