LONGHI, FAMILY. - Two painters: PIETRO, b. in 1702 in Venice, d. there on 8 May 1785.

After a very unsuccessful attempt at monumental painting (Palazzo Sagredo, Venice 1734) he devoted himself almost exclusively to genre painting, in scenes of Venetian life rendered with shrewd and good-natured liveliness, not without a touch of satire, and through which he acquired a reputation as an anecdotal and superficial painter. Series of his works are found in Venice, in the Querini Stampalia Gallery (among others the youthful Hunts formerly Donà dalle Rose), in the Museum of Palazzo Rezzonico, at the Accademia and in the Salom collection, in Padua in the Museo civico, in Milan (Brera) and in many other collections. Pietro also left some excellent portraits and beautiful drawings at the Museo Correr in Venice.

ALESSANDRO, b. in 1733 in Venice, d. there in 1813. By his father Pietro he was placed in the workshop of G. Nogari, a portraitist, and in this genre he specialized, acquiring wide fame.

Among the first works, in which the influence of his father's taste is very noticeable, are the large portrait of the Pisani family (Venice, Bentivoglio d'Aragona collection) and that of the Balotin del dove of the Museum of Belluno. There follow very numerous other portraits, scattered in public and private collections: of the architect Temanza and of Father Lodoli in the Galleries of Venice (where there is also the sketch executed for the Venetian Academy: Painting and Merit), of Goldoni at the Museo Correr, of an Admiral at the Museo civico of Padua, etc. In all of them there is a sense of fresh vitality, a pungent shrewdness and a liveliness of color that not even the neoclassical fashion will succeed in cooling. Alessandro was also an engraver.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: On Pietro: A. Ravà, P. L., 2nd ed., Florence 1923; L. Brosch, s. v. in Thieme-Becker, XXIII, pp. 357-58 (with previous bibl.); O. Uzanne, P. L., Paris 1924. On Alessandro: L. Brosch, s. v. in Thieme-Becker, XXIII, pp. 355-57; V. Moschini, Per lo studio di A. L., in L'arte, 35 (1932), pp. 110-48; id., Un ritratto inedito di A. L., in Dedolo, 12 (1932), p. 772. On both: E. Arslan, Di A. e P. L., in Emporium, 98 (1943), pp. 51-63; id., Inediti di P. e A. L., ibid., 103 (1946), pp. 59-70.

Nolfo Di Carpegna

@incollection{ec7_longhi_famiglia, author = {Di, Carpegna Nolfo}, title = {Longhi, famiglia}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VII}, pages = {1513--1514}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/longhi-famiglia} }

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Longhi, Family

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