Description
Longhi was a successful painter of upper-class life in Venice, and he specialized in stylish interiors. His scenes of the amusements of the wealthy often possess a touch of humor, sometimes mirroring the satires so popular in Venetian theater of the time. In this scene, an elderly music teacher takes advantage of the interruption caused by servants to squeeze the hand of his young pupil in front of the pianoforte. The little dog, a traditional symbol of faithfulness, with its raised paw, mirrors his gesture, almost as a parody of the old man's furtive expression of desire.
For more information on this painting, please see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue no. 452, p. 564.

The Music Lesson
Conservation
Date | Description | Narrative |
---|---|---|
12/03/1965 | Treatment | cleaned; loss compensation; other |
2/01/1986 | Treatment | loss compensation; coated |
8/01/1992 | Treatment | repaired |
11/01/1993 | Treatment | examined for loan; cleaned; repaired; loss compensation; other |
12/01/1993 | Treatment | cleaned; mounted |
Exhibitions
- Giuseppe Maria Crespi and the Emergence of Genre Painting in Italy. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth. 1986.
- Pietro Longhi. Museo Correr, Venice. 1993-1994.
- Tiepolo Unveiled: The Restoration of a Masterpiece. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1996.
- Venice in Canaletto's Age. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota. 2009-2010.
Provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore, prior to 1909 [mode of acquisition unknown] [in Walters catalogues as Voltaire chez la Princesse de Condé, French School, eighteenth century]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Credit
Acquired by Henry Walters, before 1909
Creator
- Pietro Longhi (Italian, ca. 1701-1785) (Painter)
Period
ca. 1760 (Baroque)Accession Number
37.397Measurements
Painted surface H: 17 9/16 x W: 22 11/16 x D: 1/16 in. (44.6 x 57.6 x 0.2 cm); Framed H with no build-up: 21 1/2 x W: 26 1/2 x D: 1 3/4 in. (54.61 x 67.31 x 4.45 cm); Framed H with hanger on top of frame: 22 in. (55.88 cm)Geographies
- Italy, Venice (Place of Origin)