Clara the rhinoceros by Pietro Longhi, from 1751 (Ca' Rezzonico). Clara the rhinoceros (?1738- 14 April 1758) was a female Indian Rhinoceros who became famous during 17 years of touring Europe in the mid-18th Year 1751 ( MDCCLI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a

"La lezione di danza" (The Dancing Lesson), ca 1741, Venezia, Gallerie dell'Accademia. Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic

The Charlatan, 1757. A charlatan (also called swindler) is a person practicing Quackery or some similar Confidence trick in order to obtain money or advantage via some form Year 1757 ( MDCCLVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a

Pietro Longhi (November 5, 1701 – May 8, 1785) was a Venetian painter of contemporary scenes of life. Events 1499 - Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier ( Brittany) Events 589 - Reccared summons the Third Council of Toledo 1450 - Jack Cade's Rebellion: Kentishmen Year 1785 ( MDCCLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e

Biography

Pietro Longhi was born in Venice in the parish of Saint Maria, first child of the silversmith Alessandro Falca and his wife, Antonia. Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the He adopted the Longhi last name when he began to paint. He was initially taught by the Veronese painter Antonio Balestra, who then recommended the young painter to apprentice with the Bolognese Giuseppe Maria Crespi, who was highly regarded in his day for both religious and genre painting. Antonio Balestra (August 12 1666 - April 21, 1740) was an Italian painter of the Rococo period Giuseppe Maria Crespi ( March 14 1665 &ndash July 16 1747) nicknamed Lo Spagnuolo ("the Spanish One" was an Italian Genre works, also called genre scenes or genre views, are pictorial representations in any of various media that represent scenes or events from everyday life He was married in 1732 to Caterina Maria Rizzi.

Among his early paintings are some altarpieces and religious themes. In 1734, he completed frescoes in the walls and ceiling of the hall in Ca' Sagredo, representing the Death of the giants. Henceforward, his work would lead him to be viewed in the future as the Venetian William Hogarth, painting subjects and events of everyday life in Venice. William Hogarth (10 November 1697 &ndash 26 October 1764 was a major English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic The gallant interior scenes reflect the 18th century's turn towards the private and the bourgeois. The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system

Many of his paintings show Venetians at play, such as the depiction of the crowd of genteel citizens awkwardly gawking at a freakish Indian rhinoceros (see image). Rhinoceros (raɪˈnɒsərəs often colloquially abbreviated rhino, is a name used to group five extant species of Odd-toed ungulates in the family This painting chronicles Clara the rhinoceros brought to Europe in 1741 by a Dutch sea captain and impresario from Leyden, Douvemont van der Meer. Clara the rhinoceros (?1738- 14 April 1758) was a female Indian Rhinoceros who became famous during 17 years of touring Europe in the mid-18th "Leyden" redirects here For other uses see Leyden (disambiguation. This rhinoceros was exhibited in Venice in 1751. ^[1] There are two versions of this painting, nearly identical except for the unmasked portraits of two men in Ca' Rezzonico version. Ca' Rezzonico is a Palazzo on the Grand Canal in Venice. Today it is a public Museum dedicated to 18th century Venice ^[2] Ultimately, there may be a punning joke to the painting, since the young man on the left holds aloft the sawed off horn (metaphor for cuckoldry) of the animal. A cuckold is a married man whose wife has sex with other men In current usage it sometimes refers to non-married couples in committed relationships as well although the traditional meaning Perhaps this explains the difference between the unchaperoned women.

Other paintings chronicle the daily activities such as the gambling parlors (Riddoti) that proliferated in the 18th century. ^[3] In some, the insecure or naive posture and circumstance, the puppet-like delicacy of the persons, seem to suggest a satirical perspective of the artists toward his subjects. Nearly half of the figures in his genre paintings are faceless, hidden behind Venetian Carnival masks. The Carnival of Venice (in Italian: Carnevale Di Venezia) was first recorded in 1268. ^[4] Like Crespi before him, Longhi was commissioned to paint seven canvases documenting the seven Catholic sacraments. A sacrament, as defined in Hexam's Concise Dictionary of Religion is "a Rite in which God is uniquely active ^[5]

Longhi is well-known as a draughtsman, whose drawings were often done for their own sake, rather than as studies for paintings. Drawing is a Visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium Pietro's son, Alessandro, was also an accomplished painter. Alessandro Longhi (1733-1813 was a Venetian Portrait painter and Printmaker in Etching (mostly reproductions of paintings

A paraphrase of Bernard Berenson states that "Longhi painted for the Venetians passionate about painting, their daily lives, in all dailiness, domesticity, and quotidian mundane-ness. Bernard Berenson (born June 26, 1865 Butrimonys (now in Alytus district of Lithuania) &ndash October 6, 1959 Florence In the scenes regarding the hairdo and the apparel of the lady, we find the subject of gossip of the inopportune barber, chattering of the maid; in the school of dance, the amiable sound of violins. It is not tragic. . . but upholds a deep respect of customs, of great refinement, with an omnipresent good humor distinguishes the paintings of the Longhi from those of Hogarth, at times pitiless and loaded with omens of change".

Notes

References

• John T Spike (1986). The Pinacoteca Querini Stampalia is an art collection and museum in Venice, Italy. in Centro Di, Kimball Museum of Art, Fort Worth, Texas, USA: Giuseppe Maria Crespi and the Emergence of Genre Painting in Italy, p189-206.