A topographical cabinet card showing the Palazzo Foscari and the Palazzo Giustiniani on the Grand Canal. At the left-hand edge of the image may be seen the façade of the Ca' Rezzonico.

Photographed by Carlo Ponti of Venice.

Carlo Ponti studied photography in Paris in the 1840’s. In 1852, he obtained a license to produce and sell photographs in Venice. He ran the first of the big photographic businesses in the city, producing albums with architectural views of great artistic sensitivity. He was also the inventor of camera lenses suitable for panoramic photography.