Venice: View of the Canal Grande and Santa Maria della Salute from the Ponte della Carità, ca. 1860 – 1870

About the Work

Early photographers took orientation from veduta painting, which owed its development to eighteenth-century tourism. As in Nerly’s composition, the dome of Santa Maria della Salute also dominates the scene in the shot by Carlo Naya. Here, however, it does not mark the centre of the composition but has been shifted to the right, drawing the viewer’s gaze somewhat further into the depths towards the Adriatic Sea. Owing to technical limitations, photographers had to do without the reproduction of atmospheric phenomena. The long exposure times transformed the waves into a smooth surface. To prevent the movement of the clouds in the sky from causing streaks, the photographer covered that area of the negative with black or red ink before exposure. The result was an evenly bright background that sets off the minute details of the pin-sharp architecture to especially good effect.