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Venezia, Palazzi Foscari, Giustinian e Rezzonico sul Canal Grande

Venezia, Palazzi Foscari, Giustinian e Rezzonico sul Canal Grande

Artist: Carlo Naya (Italian, 1816-1882)
Date: 1877
Dimensions:
Image: 10 3/4 x 14 1/8 in. (27.3 x 35.9 cm);
Mount: 12 x 17 5/16 in. (30.5 x 44 cm)
Medium: Albumen print
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Gift of Frederick P. and Amy McCombs Currier
Object number: 1987.272
Label Text:The Foscari, Giustinian, and Rezzonico palaces stand together along the Grand Canal in Venice. Palazzo Foscari (on the right) was commissioned by Doge Francesco Foscari in 1452, designed to show off his wealth and power. Immediately to the left of Palazzo Foscari is the slightly shorter Palazzo Giustinian, one of the best examples of late Venetian Gothic architecture in Venice. The Palazzo Rezzonico, at the left end of the row of buildings, is now a museum housing art of 18th-century Venice.

Photographer Carlo Naya ran the largest commercial photography studio in Venice in the late 1800s, where he produced striking images for the myriad tourists seeking souvenirs of the storied city so defined by its canals. The cloudless sky and soft reflections on the water in this photograph are a result of the wet-collodion process used to produce the image. The process was sensitive to blue light only. As clouds and sky transmit nearly the same amount of blue light, no difference would be registered on the plate, while the blue light reflecting on the water obscures the dark shadows.


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