Meticulously researched and luxuriously illustrated, this volume offers a comprehensive view of Vittore Carpaccio (c. 1460-1526), whose work has been admired for centuries for its fantastical settings enriched with contemporary incident and detail. Capturing the sanctity and splendor of Venice at the turn of the 16th century, when the city controlled a vast maritime empire, Carpaccio combined careful observation of the urban environment with a taste for the poetic in his beloved narrative cycles and altarpieces.

Providing a new lens through which to understand Carpaccio’s work, a team of distinguished scholars explores various aspects of his art, including his achievement as a draftsman. In addition to emphasizing the artist’s innovative techniques and contributions to the development of Venetian Renaissance painting, this study includes an in-depth consideration of the fluctuations in the reception of Carpaccio’s work in the five hundred years since the artist’s death.