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Two Venetian Ladies is an oil on panel painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Vittore Carpaccio. The painting, believed to be a quarter of the original work, was executed around 1490 and shows two unknown Venetian ladies. The social status of the women are widely debated, however it is established that is a commentary on Venetian Renaissance society. The painting is currently held in the Museo Correr in Venice.

Painting

Vittore Carpaccio, Two Venetian Ladies

The painting (37 in × 25 in) depicts two assumedly high society women seated on an altana (rooftop terrace). One woman holds a handkerchief with a blank expression, while the other women, playing with the smaller dog, is looking off to the left. The women are seen wearing high waisted dresses with open sleeves, and gold threaded fabric. The women also have bleached hair, plucked eyebrows, red lips, and they are adorned by silver and pearl jewelry. Different types of animals are also seen in the painting such as a dove, parrot, peacock, and two dogs. On the far left side, a boy, some argue to be a dwarf, can be seen standing on the balustrade, reaching out to play with one of the birds. Additionally, the way the second dog is depicted, with its body cut off, suggested to art historians that there is a missing left side piece that completes the artwork.

Interpretation and Opposing Views

There is a general consensus that the women in the painting are not specific, particular figures as it does not follow the general standards of Venetian portraiture. At the time, precedent portraits did not portray individuals in full-length, much less two portraits on one canvas. Instead, critics believe this painting was meant to represent the daily, ordinary life.

The high waisted dresses, open sleeves, and gold threaded fabric worn by the two women was known to be the peak of fashion and an indication of their high wealth. The adherence to the Italian standard of beauty at the time–bleached hair, plucked eyebrows, red lips–further indicated the women's high social status. The women were also depicted to have long slender hands, firm breasts, and brown eyes, further supporting the then-current beauty standard. Their lounging on the terrace and the intricately decoration of the background vase on the balustrade indicates the women came from high society. Modern art historians think them more likely members to be of the patrician Torella family, as suggested by their fine clothes and the pearl necklaces, but academic debate continues, as with other similar Venetian paintings of the period. Several objects - the white kerchief, the pearls and the animals (the doves, Venus's bird) are symbols of chastity. Note the chopines, or platform clogs, on the left.

However, in the 19th century, the painting was considered by critics to show two courtesans, a respectful term for high class prostitutes, and critics argued that these women were not part of nobility at all. These theories arose due to the high prevalence of courtesan culture during the Venetian Renaissance era. John Ruskin, the art critic who popularized this theory, believed the the painting was one of the best in the world as he commented "I know no other which unites every nameable quality of painters art in so intense a degree – breadth with tenderness, brilliancy with quietness, decision with minuteness, colour with light and shade: all that is faithfullest in Holland, fancifullest in Venice, severest in Florence, naturlest in England. Whatever de Hooghe would do in shade, van Eyck in detail, Giorgione in mass, Titian in colour, Bewick and Landseer in animal life, is here at once, and I know no other picture in the world which can be compared with it". According to Ruskin, the painting was a criticism of society's vices at the time. The women's revealing clothing indicated ostentation, and their lounging on the terrace implied inactivity. Courtesans were also known to take a preference in owning pets and the image of the peacock (pride) and red clogs also supposedly supported the theory that the women were courtesans.

Generally, critics consider the painting to depict high society women as the hairstyle, attire, the handling of the handkerchief, and the patrician crest on the vase all indicate the women come from wealth. Additionally, it is noted that Venetian courtesan culture became prevalent only after the the painting was completed.

New Discovery

Hunting on the Lagoon and Two Venetian ladies {reconstruction}

Hunting on the Lagoon was discovered in 1944 in a small, unrecognized Roman antiquarian. Currently, the painting resides in the Getty Museum. The piece portrays several boats in a lagoon, and would explain the meaning of the scene, as two women awaiting their husbands' return after an expedition hunting, or fishing with cormorants, in the Venetian lagoon. This discovery was verified by an in depth technical analysis, comparing the two fragmentary panels. On the back of the painting is another image that seems to have no apparent connection to the front (verso). The Getty panel has an illusionistic letter rack painted on the back of the panel, which was presumably matched on this panel. This appears to be the earliest small-scale trompe-l'œil painting since antiquity. Another panel the same size as these two combined would have been on the left; probably the two were hinged together to make a diptych, or a folding door or shutter. It was also discovered that the main panels of the painting contained indentations that suggest that there were two more works that completed the painting.

After the discovery of Hunting, a new perspective was formed. The combined painting can be interpreted as a representation of gender differences that existed in Venice in the Renaissance era. Men were seen as is now seen engagers of society, as they were seen outside and working, while women were seen as passive characters who stayed inside in a private, domestic setting, which was accurate for Venetian women at the time as they rarely attended public events. However, historians have also suggested that Carpaccio is critiquing the inferior roles of women in society at the time. Others argue it is a satire against the vices of society, assuming the women in the painting are courtesans. A clearer understanding may be formed if more missing panels are discovered, however in the present, the painting is an enigma and open to interpretation.

Vittore Carpaccio, Hunting on the Lagoon (verso)