Gezicht op onvoltooide Citta Nuova bij de baai Ras il cala op eiland Gozo 1778

Louis Ducros created this panoramic view of the unfinished Citta Nuova on the island of Gozo using pen and watercolour. The composition strikes you with its wide, horizontal format, emphasizing the breadth of the landscape. Ducros uses a muted palette dominated by earth tones, which gives the scene a sense of stillness. The architectural forms of the Citta Nuova are depicted with simple, geometric shapes, and there's a deliberate flatness to the rendering, typical of topographical studies. Ducros’s approach here reveals the intersections between the aesthetic and the documentary. The structural elements of the landscape, such as the stark lines of the uncompleted architecture set against the natural forms of the hills, invite us to consider the relationship between human ambition and the environment. This deliberate choice of composition underscores the tension between order and chaos, reflecting broader intellectual debates about progress, nature, and the sublime. Notice how the unfinished state of the Citta Nuova, captured with such understated precision, becomes a potent symbol of human endeavors—always in process, never quite complete.