Prince Alberto Giovanelli

Italian, 1876 - 1937

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In a room with avocado-green walls, three people cluster around and support a noticeably pale young woman who leans back on a pillow, as an older man looks on in this horizontal painting. All the people have light skin, gray or white hair, and wear long, voluminous dresses or robes. The woman and pillow are held in place by the two men and one woman around her. The swooning woman’s heavily lidded eyes are barely open, and her thin lips are closed. Her left hand, to our right, rests gently on her breast, while her other hand hangs limply by her side. Her pastel-pink gown is open down the front over a milky white, low-cut chemise and a pale yellow underskirt. Wide, lace ruffles hang from her elbow-length sleeves, and she wears white stockings and white, low-heeled shoes. The white pillow is edged with a pink ribbon tied into bows at the corners. Directly behind her, a man with long, curly, gray hair looks down at the woman’s pale face, and a second man, to our right, looks off in that direction as he braces her body. The second man has curly, blond hair and wears a yellow robe. One black shoe with a silver buckle pokes out under the hem. To our left, a woman slightly bends over the swooning woman, facing our right in profile. Her low cap or head scarf is lined with flowers at the back of her head over steel gray hair. She wears a teal-blue, satin gown with wide, sheer cuffs over her forearms. The front of her low-cut bodice is lined with a textured, lemon-yellow material. Her right fingertips, closer to us, brush the top of the glass vial she holds in her other hand. To our right and a bit apart from the group, an older man faces the swooning woman in profile, stooping slightly, and gestures toward her with one hand. His long, wavy, gray hair falls to mid-back and some sweeps over his shoulder, nearly reaching his waist. He wears a blue robe with white cuffs. The wall behind the group is covered with green wallpaper with a floral motif picked out in moss green against the lighter background. Shamrock-green curtains hang along the right edge of the painting, possibly over a door. A honey-yellow sofa with fringed upholstery sits along the wall to our left, extending off that edge of the painting. A black tricorn hat and piece of rumpled, white fabric sit at the center of the sofa, which overlaps the corner of a wooden mantle. A chubby, baby-like, winged putto seems to stand on the mantle, holding up the edge of a gold frame, presumably of a painting hanging over the fireplace. A blue and white vase sits near the putto on the mantle. To our left, in front of the sofa, a round gaming table is toppled onto the muted, marigold-orange floor. The surface of the table is mottled with areas of white, pale yellow, blue, and sage green that may represent people, possibly in a landscape. Coins spill from a red purse near a deck of cards scattered on the floor near the upended table.
Pietro Longhi, The Faint, c. 1744, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.63

The Faint

Pietro Longhi · c. 1744 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1939.1.63

Pietro Longhi, The Game of the Cooking Pot, c. 1744, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.64

The Game of the Cooking Pot

Pietro Longhi · c. 1744 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1939.1.64