Floor plan

Time and place18th-century Italy

18th-century Italy

WORKING PEASANT
A work made of oil on canvas.
A Young Woman Buying a Pink from a Young Man, by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, c. 1740
A work made of oil on canvas.
We look up through an opening surrounded by a stone ledge, with clusters of people and clouds swirling into a blue sky up and away from us in this vertical, rectangular painting. From a distance, the scene looks like a complete illusion but up close, the people, clouds, and architecture are sketchily painted. The ledge running around the opening has a gold, oval medallion at each corner. Appearing to be carved from white stone, two bearded men with long hair recline against each medallion, flanking them to each side in front of large shells that curve up over the people and frames them. A few architectural structures extend up into the sky, including a pointed obelisk in the lower left corner, a pair of columns at the upper right, and what seems to be the mast of a ship at the top left. Most of the people have pale skin but some have more tan complexions, and a few, including those wearing feather headdresses near the upper left corner, have brown skin. The people wear windswept robes of pale, butter yellow, robin’s egg blue, rose pink, and ivory. The eye may drawn to a few vignettes, such as the man holding a rearing, chestnut-brown horse on the illusionistic ledge near the lower right, a nun wearing a white robe and holding a cross above him in the clouds, and, farthest away, a crowned person sitting on a throne.
A work made of etching on heavy ivory laid paper.

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Works made in Italy in the 18th century.

First room, north wall

  1. WORKING PEASANT
    Working PeasantCarlo Marchionni, 1728–78Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  2. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Rinaldo and Armida in Her GardenGiovanni Battista Tiepolo, c. 1742–45Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. A Young Woman Buying a Pink from a Young Man, by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, c. 1740
    A Young Woman Buying a Pink from a Young ManGiovanni Battista Piazzetta, c. 1740Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

First room, south wall

  1. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Antiochus Yearning for StratoniceStefano Pozzi, c. 1740Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. We look up through an opening surrounded by a stone ledge, with clusters of people and clouds swirling into a blue sky up and away from us in this vertical, rectangular painting. From a distance, the scene looks like a complete illusion but up close, the people, clouds, and architecture are sketchily painted. The ledge running around the opening has a gold, oval medallion at each corner. Appearing to be carved from white stone, two bearded men with long hair recline against each medallion, flanking them to each side in front of large shells that curve up over the people and frames them. A few architectural structures extend up into the sky, including a pointed obelisk in the lower left corner, a pair of columns at the upper right, and what seems to be the mast of a ship at the top left. Most of the people have pale skin but some have more tan complexions, and a few, including those wearing feather headdresses near the upper left corner, have brown skin. The people wear windswept robes of pale, butter yellow, robin’s egg blue, rose pink, and ivory. The eye may drawn to a few vignettes, such as the man holding a rearing, chestnut-brown horse on the illusionistic ledge near the lower right, a nun wearing a white robe and holding a cross above him in the clouds, and, farthest away, a crowned person sitting on a throne.
    Wealth and Benefits of the Spanish Monarchy under Charles IIIGiovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1762Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. A work made of etching on heavy ivory laid paper.
    View of the Remains of the Praetorian Fort [the Poecile], Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli, from Views of RomeGiovanni Battista Piranesi, 1770Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Second room, south wall

  1. A work made of oil on canvas.
    The DancePietro Longhi, c. 1750Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Allegory of the Planets and Continents, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1752
    Allegory of the Planets and ContinentsGiovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1752Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. STUDY FOR A PAINTING ON THEME OF CALLISTO
    Study for a Painting on Theme of CallistoFilippo Falciatore, ca. 1750Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Second room, north wall

  1. The soaring, gilded vault of a central aisle of the inside of a church fills this horizontal painting. The ceiling of the nave curves up and away from us like a tunnel. It is lined with coffers, which have inset panels, decorated with gold. The light-filled nave angles down from the top center of the composition toward the lower left as it moves away from us. The white stone pillars supporting the barrel vault are intricately carved and decorated with pudgy, winged cherubs holding portraits of men, and aisles run parallel to the central nave to our left and right. In the side aisles, pink marble columns flank altars in chapels. At the far end of the church, the nave is interrupted where it opens into the light-filled crossing, before continuing beyond. Marking the space where the long hall of the church is intersected by a shorter arm to create a cross shape is a structure made of four twisting columns supporting a pointed canopy, all cast in bronze. Tiny men and women pray or gather in pairs and small groups along the nave. Some wear tattered clothing and others are elegantly dressed.
    Interior of Saint Peter's, RomeGiovanni Paolo Panini, c. 1754Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Tobias and the Angel, by Francesco Guardi, 1750s
    Tobias and the AngelFrancesco Guardi, 1750sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. A pastel drawing of woman in blue and pink dress with blue parrot.
    A Young Lady with a ParrotRosalba Carriera, c. 1730Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Third room, north wall

  1. The Meeting, by Pietro Longhi, 1746
    The MeetingPietro Longhi, 1746Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Large painting of soldier asleep outdoors surrounded by two women and a cupid.
    Armida Encounters the Sleeping RinaldoGiovanni Battista Tiepolo, c. 1742–45Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Third room, south wall

  1. A work made of pen and brown ink and brush and brown ink wash on ivory laid paper.
    Holy Family with St. John and Two AngelsGiovanni Battista Tiepolo, n.d.Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. The Antechamber of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio, by Francesco Guardi, ca. 1765–68
    The Antechamber of the Sala del Maggior ConsiglioFrancesco Guardi, ca. 1765–68Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art