Today's gondola has undergone gradual change over the centuries and is not the same as we see in the paintings of Canaletto or Carpaccio. Such as we no longer see the elegant central compartment known as the ‘felze' because it obstructs the view of the city for tourists. However it is not to be assumed that the original gondola was primitive, it didn't have to face the dangerous ‘moto ondoso' (water movement caused by high speed boats) of today.