LONGHI, Pietro
(b. 1702, Venezia, d. 1785, Venezia)

The Family Concert

c. 1760
Oil on canvas
Museo del Settecento Veneziano, Ca' Rezzonico, Venice

Pietro Longhi embodied the Venetian Enlightenment. Despite the vogue for sumptuous fresco decorations, Longhi devoted himself to small paintings on canvas, nearly all in the same format., which depict scenes and personages in the streets, squares, and buildings of Venice. Unlike the monumental compositions of the Vedutisti, Longhi never painted spectacular buildings or picturesque views, but everyday scenes affectionately observed. He offers a faithful portrait of society, in the conviction that the overall image can only emerge from a multitude of minutely observed situations. Longhi was a profoundly Venetian painter, yet his art reflected an international trend.