Artwork
A Lady Seen from Behind
A Lady Seen from Behind is an oil painting by the Baroque artist Luca Carlevarijs. It dates from 1700 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
The oil sketch depicts a woman viewed from behind, dressed in a white undergarment trimmed with red, over which she wears a black skirt and a hooded mantle. Executed in a rapid, spontaneous manner, the work belongs to a series of fifty‑three studies that Luca Carlevarijs produced as preparatory material for larger compositions.
Subject & Meaning
The figure represents an everyday Venetian pedestrian, captured in a moment of movement. By showing only the back of the sitter, Carlevarijs emphasizes anonymity and the flow of city life, allowing the viewer to imagine the woman's destination within the bustling streets of Venice.
Technique & Style
Rendered with swift daubs of colour, the sketch combines a limited palette with loose brushwork, characteristic of Carlevarijs’s “macchiette” studies. The artist first sketched the pose on paper from life, then transferred it to oil, preserving the immediacy of the outdoor observation while hinting at the tonal depth of a finished painting.
History & Provenance
Created during Carlevarijs’s early 18th‑century period in Venice, the piece formed part of an album of quick figure studies intended for inclusion in his elaborate vedute. The album, comprising fifty‑three such sketches, remained in the artist’s studio before entering a private collection in the late 19th century, where it has been documented since.
Context
Luca Carlevarijs (1663–1730) is best known for his systematic views of Venice, a genre later popularized by Canaletto and Guardi. His 1703 publication of 104 city vistas set a benchmark for veduta painters, and these figure studies reveal the observational groundwork that underpinned his architectural panoramas.
Artist & collection
Artist
Luca Carlevarijs or Carlevaris (20 January 1663 – 12 February 1730) was an Italian painter and engraver working mainly in Venice.
