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Pietro Longhi (painter) Italian, 1702 - 1785 The Faint, c. 1744 oil on canvas overall: 50 x 61.7 cm (19 11/16 x 24 5/16 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection 1939.1.63 On View |
A woman in a powder-pink gown seems to be at the center of a domestic crisis as she sinks back, deathly pale, into a chair. The explanation for her indisposition is not hard to discover. A table has been tipped over at the left, spilling cards, an open purse, and coins on to the floor. The lady has been gambling. Dealt an unfortunate hand of cards, she pretended to faint, conveniently upsetting the table as she swooned. Her servants and companions rush to her aid, while the man on the right may be a doctor, or a gambling partner who had been winning.
Longhi's fame rested on such intimate glimpses of Venetian upperclass life in a period of refined decadence. His aristocratic subjects were also his patrons, and they would have appreciated this accurate portrayal of an elegant interior with a chinoiserie card table and moss-green damask on the walls. The realistic comedy of Longhi's playwright friend Carlo Goldoni may have been a source of inspiration, but Longhi's vignettes lack Goldoni's satirical bite. The feathery touch of Longhi's brush and the filtered light soften the scene, as do the pastel colors and the diminutive, doll-like actors.