# The Dance

**Pietro Longhi** (Italian, 1702–1785)  
c. 1750  
Oil on canvas  
61.6 × 49.6 cm (24 1/4 × 19 1/2 in.); Framed: 74.3 × 59.1 × 6.4 cm (29 1/4 × 23 1/4 × 2 1/2 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1932.52. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/10550).

## About this work

Pietro Longhi painted this in about 1750, aged about 43. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of oil on canvas.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Pietro Longhi](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/pietro-longhi)

Italian, 1702–1785; born in Venice; died in Venice

Pietro Longhi, born Pietro Falca, trained with Antonio Balestra and then in Bologna with Giuseppe Maria Crespi, who encouraged his turn from history painting to genre. From the 1740s he painted small, gently ironic scenes of Venetian life: patricians receiving visitors, masked ladies, dancing lessons, card games and curiosities shown to crowds. Admired by the playwright Carlo Goldoni, these pictures record the manners of the city in the last decades of the Republic.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: Italy
- The artist was about 43
- Real size: about 24 × 19 in (61 × 49 cm). The 18 × 24 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 18th century
- Movement: [Rococo](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/rococo)
- Subjects: dance, jug, musical instruments, interior, leisure, people, men, man
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/19.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/19/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-dance-aic-10550).