Request to view

This object can be requested via email from the Prints & Drawings Study Room

A man wearing a red coat and stockings

Oil Painting
ca. 1700-ca. 1710 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

A man wearing a red coat and stockings, a black tricorned hat and a sword at his waist. This work is part of an album of fifty-three sketches by Carlevarijs which includes figures he appears to have painted in the open air in preparation for insertion into formal compositions. Figures in very similar dress appear for example in Carlevarijs' paintings depicting the Entry of foreign Embassies such as Spain and France into the Palazzo Ducale, Venice.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleA man wearing a red coat and stockings (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Oil on canvas mounted on paper
Brief description
Oil painting, 'A Man Wearing a Red Coat', Luca Carlevarijs, ca. 1700-ca. 1710
Physical description
A man wearing a red coat and stockings, a black tricorned hat and a sword at his waist.
Dimensions
  • Approx. height: 19.2cm
  • Approx. width: 9cm
Dimensions taken from Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800, C.M. Kauffmann, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1973. Checked 2015. Pasted to card: 213 x 108 mm.
Style
Credit line
Purchased from the funds of Captain H. B. Murray's bequest.
Object history
Purchased, 1938

Historical significance: A man wearing a red coat and stockings, a black tricorned hat and a sword at his waist. It is one of Carlevarijs’ studies known as macchiette, the quick sketches he made with daubs of colour to indicate animated Venetian figures. Carlevarijs first drew the figures on paper, copying them from people he saw in the streets and then transformed them into lively oil sketches, such as this one, which represent a crucial part of his artistic process. Studies such as these would ultimately form part of a Venetian veduta or prospect painting, which is a genre Carlevarijs is generally credited with establishing in the eighteenth century. He populated his vedute with elegantly posed and well-dressed figures, concealing the decline of the Republic under the splendour of the pageants, festivals and regattas he often represented. The tricorne hat was a popular style during the late 17th century and 18th century, falling out of style shortly before the French Revolution. At the peak of its popularity, it was worn as civilian dress and as part of military and naval uniforms. The tricorne appeared as a result of the evolution of the broad brim round hat used by Spanish soldiers in Flanders during the 17th century. By pledging the brims, a triangular shape was obtained, and since the corners offered protection from the rainy Flemish weather, this shape was favored by Spanish soldiers. From there, during the military struggles between the French and the Spaniards, its use spread to the French armies, and King Louis XIV made it fashionable throughout Europe, both as a civil and military wear. Figures in very similar dress appear for example in Carlevarijs' paintings depicting the Entry of foreign Embassies such as Spain and France into the Palazzo Ducale, Venice.
Carlevarijs' sketches also demonstrate his great influence on Canaletto, whose figures and their arrangement often show a marked debt to the older Master such as in Venice: The Feast Day of Saint Roch ca. 1735 (National Gallery, London, NG937).
Historical context
This work is part of an album of fifty-three sketches by Carlevarijs which includes figures he appears to have painted in the open air in preparation for insertion into formal compositions. The figures and objects appear frequently and virtually without variations in his paintings between 1707 and 1726 and are closely related to his etchings of 1703 in Le fabriche e vedute di Venetia. Composed of 104 views of Venice, the etchings formed the most complete survey of the fabric of the city ever produced and served as a model for Venetian view painters throughout the 18th century. Carlevarijs' sketches reveal a particular attention to costume, highlighting Venetian style of dress which was highly regarded in fashionable circles throughout Europe from the 16th through the 18th centuries. The maritime republic imported raw materials from the Far East and exported finished products including highly desirable velvets and brocades. The taste for Venetian textiles persisted into the 18th century. In this period however, Venice's power was dwindling and her government corrupt. The city nevertheless sought to present a facade of a wealthy city peopled with bright and gregarious multitude engaged in pleasurable pursuits. As Carlevarijs stated in the dedication to Le fabriche, he intended his paintings to 'rendere più facile alla notitzia de Paesi stranieri le Venete Magnificenze' [render more clearly the magnificence of Venice to foreign countries]
Subjects depicted
Summary
A man wearing a red coat and stockings, a black tricorned hat and a sword at his waist. This work is part of an album of fifty-three sketches by Carlevarijs which includes figures he appears to have painted in the open air in preparation for insertion into formal compositions. Figures in very similar dress appear for example in Carlevarijs' paintings depicting the Entry of foreign Embassies such as Spain and France into the Palazzo Ducale, Venice.
Bibliographic references
  • Kauffmann, C.M., Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, p. 56-63, cat. no. 60 (P.26-1938 - P.78-1938)
  • John Pope-Hennessy, 'A Group of Studies by Luca Carlevarijs', The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Vol. 73, No. 426 (Sep., 1938), pp. 126-131.
  • Anon., 'Early Venetian Costume Studies' in Listener,22 September 1938, p. 613.
  • F. Mauroner, Luca Carlevarijs,2nd ed., 1945, p. 24, figs. 32 (P.57), 33 (P.55), 34 (P.69)
  • M. Levey, Painting in XVIII century Venice, 1959, p. 79.
  • W. G. Constable, Canaletto,i, 1962, pp. 70, 73 f., pl. 9 a (P.69) and b (P.55)
  • A. Rizzi, Disegni, incisioni e bozzetti del Carlevarijs, Exh. Cat. Udine, 1964, pp. 53-7, figs. 113-20.
  • The Glory of Venice : art in the eighteenth century. Jane Martineau and Andrew Robison (eds.), Exhibition held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, September 15 - December 14, 1994 and at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., January 29 - April 23, 1995. pp. 93-97, 443-444, no. 21.
  • Life in XVIII century Venice, Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood, 1966.
  • A. Rizzi, Luca Carlevarijs,1967, p. 97 f., figs. 1-53 (Bozzetti).
  • Isabella Reale and Dario Succi, Luca Carlevarijs e la veduta veneziana del Settecento Exh. Cat., Milano : Electa, c1994.
  • Venice, 1700-1800: an exhibition of Venice and the eighteenth century (The Detroit Institute of Arts [and] John Herron Art Museum), 1952, pp. 9-12, 23-26.
  • Luca Carlevarijs, Le fabriche e vedute di Venetia Exh. Cat., Venezia : Marsilio, 1995-1996.
  • Charles Beddington, Luca Carlevarijs : views of Venice Exh. Cat. (San Diego, Calif.: Timken Museum of Art, c. 2001), p. 19, fig. 17.
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1938, London: Board of Education, 1939.
Collection
Accession number
P.52-1938

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdMay 8, 2007
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest