HEINTZ, Joseph the Younger
(b. ca. 1600, Augsburg, d. ca. 1678, Venezia)

The Bull Hunt in Campo San Polo

1648
Oil on canvas, 115 x 205 cm
Museo Correr, Venice

Joseph Heintz the Younger, from Augsburg, earned himself a reputation for paintings illustrating the characteristic Venetian festivals but left us only a few canvases that capture the city convincingly. Most of his paintings show an urban environment built up from coulisses, and take little heed of the laws of perspective. Heintz's compositions are dotted with numerous small, rather spindly figures, under the apparent influence of Jacques Callot. Most of these routine townscapes are based not on personal observation — though Heintz spent most of his life in Venice — but on older prints and paintings. Heintz's compositions served in turn as models for a large number of paintings of mediocre to very mediocre quality, Venetian festivals again being the preferred subject.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 3 minutes):
Georges Bizet: Carmen, Prelude