Artwork

The Bucintoro Departing from the Bacino di San Marco

The Bucintoro Departing from the Bacino di San Marco, by Luca Carlevarijs, oil, 1710
The Bucintoro Departing from the Bacino di San Marco, by Luca Carlevarijs, oil, 1710

The Bucintoro Departing from the Bacino di San Marco is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Luca Carlevarijs. It dates from 1710 and is held in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum.

About this work

Overview

The canvas captures a lively waterfront scene filled with vessels, flags, and crowds, rendered in a palette of blues, warm earth tones, and striking reds.

Luca Carlevarijs, a Venetian painter and engraver, completed an oil painting in 1710 that records the departure of the Bucintoro, the Doge’s ceremonial barge, from the Bacino di San Marco. The canvas captures a lively waterfront scene filled with vessels, flags, and crowds, rendered in a palette of blues, warm earth tones, and striking reds. The work is part of the J. Paul Getty Museum’s collection.

Subject & Meaning

The composition centers on the state barge’s launch, a key ritual of Venetian civic life. Red‑flagged boats line the canal while onlookers gather on the shore and aboard other vessels, emphasizing the communal celebration of the Doge’s procession and the city’s maritime identity.

Technique & Style

Carlevarijs employs the veduta tradition, combining precise architectural detail with a lively atmospheric sense. Light and shadow model the water and façades, while the Rococo sensibility appears in the delicate handling of color and ornamental detail, giving the scene a light, airy quality.

History & Provenance

Created in the early eighteenth century, the painting reflects Carlevarijs’s role in establishing the Venetian cityscape genre. After remaining in private hands for several generations, it entered the J. Paul Getty Museum, where it is displayed as part of the museum’s European paintings collection.

Artist & collection

Portrait of Luca Carlevarijs

Artist

Luca Carlevarijs

Luca Carlevarijs or Carlevaris (20 January 1663 – 12 February 1730) was an Italian painter and engraver working mainly in Venice.

This work is in the public domain (CC0). Image source: J. Paul Getty Museum open access. Spotted an error in this record? Tell us.