IPPOLITO CAFFI | VENICE, VIEW OF THE MOLO LOOKING WEST TOWARDS LA SALUTE

Private collection, Milan;

From whom acquired by a private collector in 2005; 

From whom acquired by the present owner. 

While the legacy of the great Venetian master Canaletto (1697–1768) is amply displayed in Caffi's work, as is evident in this beautiful homage to eighteenth-century view painting, Caffi's distinct contribution was to modernize the genre by selecting novel viewpoints and capturing different times of day and night. Here, in sharp perspective, Caffi has rendered the Molo, looking west, with the pinkish façade of the Ducal Palace on the right; towards the center, the two columns and the entrance to the Piazzetta; and beyond, the Library, its ground-floor arcades softly lit; on the left, across the water, silhouetted against the moonlit sky are the Dogana and the domes and bell towers of the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute. Animated with figures and small craft moored along the quay, this atmospheric painting encompasses many of Venice’s most important landmarks to create a remarkable view of the city.

Caffi's originality stems from his experimentation with lighting effects and his innovative approach to observing and rendering urban spaces. After training in Belluno, Padua and Venice, in 1832 he moved to Rome, where he rapidly achieved success. Greatly skilled in the representation of three-dimensional space, he published a textbook on perspective. An avid traveller and highly prolific, Caffi journeyed beyond Italy's shores to explore Egypt, Turkey and Greece. Exiled from Venice in 1849 because of his political activism, he was not in fact in the city in 1850, the year this work was painted. Caffi's view of the Molo transforms a well-known vista into a scene of unearthly beauty.

The work will be included in the catalogue raisonné of the painter edited by Dr. Annalisa Scarpa, currently in preparation.