Follower of Vittore Carpaccio

This drawing, probably recording a painted composition, witnesses the interest in perspective so evident in the early Venetian renaissance, when artists were experimenting with spatial illusions and cleverly creating elaborate interior and exterior spaces. As here, Venetian artists of this period frequently constructed the space almost as a sort of stage set.  A few steps, to the left of the composition, lead to a classical portico, in which the vanishing point is occupied by a sculpture, possibly surmounting a fountain.  To the right we see an imaginative townscape, and the religious narrative may also begin on this side of the composition, where a group of small figures are conversing at the top of some steps, before concluding with the scene under the porch.  The beggar and his dog in the immediate foreground must also relate to the unidentified subject represented in this intriguing drawing.