Louis de Caullery was probably born around 1580 in Caullery, a small town near Cambrai. No known documents testify that he actually came from this region in Northern France, but after his death his wife and children inherited some properties in Cambrai. According to the Liggeren of the Guild of Saint Luke, he became a pupil of Joos de Momper during the season of 1593/94 under the name of Loys Solleri. In 1621, his death duties were paid to the guild, where he had been listed as a master since 1602. The architectural pieces of Paul Vredeman de Vries had a great influence on his paintings, whilst the works of Sebastian Vrancx and Frans Francken had an influence on the way in which he dealt with his staffage. 

 

As he painted Florence, Venice - such as the present picture - and Rome, it has been assumed that de Caullery travelled to Italy, though there is no archival evidence for this. The cultural theatre of these cities evidently fascinated the Northern artist, whose scenes are often populated by carnival goers and bull-fights. De Caullery was inclined towards genre painting and dealt with a wide variety of scenes: carnivals on ice, fireworks, plein-airscenes, allegories of the five senses and also meetings painted in the spirit of the Fontainebleau School. In his depictions of buildings, he appears to be concerned with fine precision, while being very skillful at presenting perspective. He died in Antwerp in 1621 or 1622.

Only two extant paintings by the master are fully signed. One is a depiction of a Carnaval in the Kunsthalle, Hamburg and the other is a Gallant Festival belonging to the Louvre, but on display in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Cambrai. The latter of these is also dated 1620. A further L C monogrammed work showing an Allegory of the senses in the Nelahozeves Castle in Bohemia, is dated 1618. With only two dated paintings that are only two years apart, it is not possible to sketch De Caullery’s stylistic development.

The present picture, with its stage-like view of the Piazzetta from the Bacino di San Marco, Venice, is a characteristic work by Caullery and follows a compositional scheme often employed by the artist, especially in his Venetian views. Elegantly-dressed figures throng the lower half of the composition, while the sky above has been painted using bright azure tones, surely inspired by the Venetian colourists. An excellent comparison would be his View of the Piazzetta, Venice sold at Sotheby’s London (December 5, 2024, lot 128). The spatial construction, along with the way that the figures, the architecture and the water are rendered, leaves no doubt that these works are by the same master.