Pietro Longhi
1702-1785
Study for a Portrait of a Venetian Senator
13 x 18 11/16 inches (330 x 475 mm)
Black chalk, with white chalk, on light brown paper.
IV, 142
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
Notes
The costume of the bewigged figure in this study suggests he is a member of the Venetian Senate. The drawing has sometimes been ascribed to Pietro Longhi and sometimes to his son, Alessandro, whose large-scale portraits of members of the Venetian aristocracy it somewhat resembles. The son's work as a draftsman is nonetheless so little known that it seems preferable to retain the attribution to the father, who executed large numbers of studies in black chalk for the many figures that populate his charming paintings of noble life. --Exhibition Label, from "Tiepolo, Guardi, and Their World: Eighteenth-Century Venetian Drawings"
Inscriptions/Markings
Inscribed at lower left, in black chalk, "Longi - F".
Associated names
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Bibliography
Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : Drawings by the Old Masters Formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, IV, 142, repr.
Stampfle, Felice, and Jacob Bean. Drawings from New York collections. III: The eighteenth century in Italy. New York : Metropolitan Museum of Art : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1971, no. 174, repr.
Stampfle, Felice, and Jacob Bean. Drawings from New York collections. III: The eighteenth century in Italy. New York : Metropolitan Museum of Art : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1971, no. 174, repr.
Artist
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Catalog link
Department