In the second half of the sixteenth century the artistic exchanges between Venice and the Low Countries intensified. Although no Venetian painters settled in Antwerp or in the cities of the Low Countries, several painters of Flemish origin, in particular Dirck de Vries and Ludovico Pozzoserrato, moved to Venice. These two personalities fostered the circulation in Venice of paintings produced in Flanders and, in the meantime, produced paintings featuring some subjects characterized by a marked Venetian identity.

The essay examines in particular the subjects of Kitchens, domestic interiors with various characterizations, and the Carnival, another subject matter peculiar of the lagoon, which was exported and spread rapidly to the North. The presence in the collections of wealthy Antwerp merchants of these subjects, codified as 'Venetian', even though produced by artists of Flemish origin, is an important element defining the perception of this production identified as a 'Venetianity' and carefully managed by foreign artists.