Plate 85: View of the Contarini Palace in Campo San Trovaso, Venice, 1703, from "The buildings and views of Venice" (Le fabriche e vedute di Venezia)

Art Historical Context

This etching, Plate 85 Luca Carlevaris's seminal series *Le fabriche vedute di Venezia*The Buildings and Views of Venice), captures the Contarini Palace overlooking Campo San Trovaso 1703. Carlevaris, a Venetian vedutista, meticulously rendered the city's architectural splendor, blending palaces, boats, and bustling urban life. Published as part of a 104-plate series, these prints served as portable souvenirs for Grand Tour travelers, preserving Venice's fading Republic-era grandeur amid political decline. Etching's fine lines allowed Carlevaris to achieve remarkable precision in depicting Gothic and Renaissance facades, waterways, and daily scenes, predating the more polished works of Canaletto. The medium's tonal range evokes Venice's shimmering light and watery reflections, highlighting the cultural obsession with the lagoon city's topography. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, this bequest from Phyllis Massar offers a window into 18th-century topographical art, celebrating Venice as an enduring symbol of beauty and transience.