The Bacino, Venice, with the Dogana and a Distant View of the Isola di San Giorgio 1706 - 1712

Curator: This painting is Luca Carlevaris' "The Bacino, Venice, with the Dogana and a Distant View of the Isola di San Giorgio," created sometime between 1706 and 1712. Editor: Immediately striking, isn’t it? There’s an incredible sense of airy vastness, all achieved through this controlled baroque technique that presents a vision of Venice at the peak of its trading power. The sky, those muted, diffused tones, contribute a soft, melancholic note. Curator: Note how Carlevaris constructs a believable depth of field through atmospheric perspective, muting colors of background elements, focusing sharply only on the figures and architectural elements in the midground. Editor: Indeed. But let’s also consider that beyond being simply picturesque, paintings such as this one participated in the construction of Venice as a symbol, both as a powerful mercantile hub and a city of unique artistic vision, to both foreign dignitaries and Venetian elites. Curator: Quite right. Furthermore, the placement of architectural objects creates a compositional structure. The Dogana and San Giorgio bookend each side of the painting, using a precise arrangement to draw your eye across the painting's frame. Editor: And within that "frame," the figures play such distinct roles. Are they merchants? Are they local inhabitants? This detailed genre-scene aesthetic creates, to some extent, an illusion, making this cityscape seem far more active than it probably was on any given day. The image itself helps establish a need for this type of trade, therefore enforcing that type of market. Curator: We shouldn't neglect to mention that Carlevaris’s paintings like this influenced future artists greatly. One needs to consider how he shaped, through perspective and technical skill, how the world viewed Venice at that point in time. Editor: And how that vision, steeped in the social and economic structures that created Venice's identity, still impacts how we understand that floating city today. Thanks to this oil painting, we have a baroque symbol made concrete.