A Market Scene on the Piazzetta in Venice by Louis de Caullery (and studio)

15 3/8 “x 22 1/8” (39.2 x 56.3 cm) – Framed : 20 5/8’’ x 28” (52.5 x 71 cm)
Provenance: Sotheby's London, December 7, 1994, lot 165
Guilloché frame in blackened wood - 17th century Italy

Although he may never have been to Venice himself, Louis de Caullery is presenting to us here a kind of architectural caprice depicting a market scene on the Piazzetta in Venice. We were attracted by the fluidity of the painting, the richness and diversity of the costumes, which blend Oriental and Venetian characters.

While we recognize the Doge's Palace and the two columns of the Piazzetta, the imaginary nature of the city depicted in the background, and the muted light typical of Nordic atmospheres, lead us to believe that this Venetian evocation was probably created in his Antwerp studio, at a time when it was another great cosmopolitan port.

1. Louis de Caullery, from the Spanish Netherlands to Italy?

Little is known about the life of Louis de Caullery. He was born in Caulery, a village near Cambrai, between 1579 and 1581. He left at an early age for Antwerp, where from 1539 to 1594 he was a pupil of the painter Joos de Momper (1564-1635). In 1602-1603, he was accepted as a master in the Antwerp guild of Saint Luke.

Louis de Caullery specialized himself in the depiction of animated scenes, both secular and religious, with numerous characters. The style of his characters shows a certain affinity with Frans Francken le Jeune, while his architectural creations suggest the influence of Hans Vredeman de Vries. The presence of architectural elements inspired by the great cities of Italy has led several art historians to speculate that, like his master Joos de Momper, Caullery travelled to Italy, but no evidence of such a trip has ever been found.

The large number of paintings attributable to Louis de Caullery and his entourage suggests that he must have had an extensive studio in Antwerp. The present painting is typical of these studio works produced under the master's supervision, which combine finely realized parts (most of the characters in the foreground, including the two dogs on the right!) with more sketchy ones, all set in a largely imaginary architecture. The fluidity of the representation would date this work to the artist's last decade (1610-1620).

2. Description and related artworks

Two groups dominate the central foreground: on the left, two figures dressed in oriental garb are moving forward while discussing; on the right, a young man raises his hat to interrupt a conversation between two elegant men. The costumes of our Orientals (and particularly that of the character on the left) evoke those of the Magi in the Adorations of this period. It is possible that Caullery drew inspiration from them, unless he used costume plates which were common at the time, or genuine Orientals he came across in the port of Antwerp, as a source of inspiration!

The two characters in ermine-trimmed red robes in the background are certainly Venetian senators, while a white-veiled woman on the right reminds us of Venice's economic and cultural ties with the Ottoman Empire.

Two market scenes frame this main scene on either side. On the left, we find vegetable vendors. Behind a merchant seated in the front row between a basket of mushrooms and a basket of onions, three merchants stand in their casemates built at the foot of the campanile and sheltered by a wide awning. The right-hand side of the painting represents the area devoted to the fish merchants. Throughout the composition, several points of light attract our eye and highlight certain characters. One of them, like a real ray of sunlight, makes the dress of an elegant woman sparkle as she strides through the crowd. Behind her, two jugglers mounted on the trestles of an improvised theater are drawing the attention of the onlookers crowded in front of them.

The atmosphere of this scene, its muted colors and the presence of jugglers in the background evoke another painting by Louis de Caullery, this carnival scene sold in 2003 at Tajan (8th photo in the gallery). The presence of the Doge's Palace and the two columns lining the Piazzetta on the seaward side reminds us however that we are in Venice and not in Flanders. The Flemish collectors' attraction to representations of the great Italian cities led Louis de Caullery to situate several of his compositions in Italy. He probably relied on printed sources (prints and travel accounts) to create these imaginary landscapes, a very good example of which is the View of St. Peter’s Square in Rome during the Election of Pope Clement VIII in 1592 (9th photo in the gallery).

3. Framing

We framed our painting in a 17th-century Italian guilloché frame in blackened wood (in imitation of Dutch frames).