Floor plan

Time and place18th-century Italy

18th-century Italy

The Sacrifice of Isaac, Tobias and the Angel, The Angels Appearing to Abraham, Abraham Welcoming the Three Angels (painting series), by Francesco Guardi, 1750s
People walk, sit, or stand on a plaza along a canal lined on the far side with buildings in this horizontal landscape painting. The canal begins in the lower left corner and angles slightly right as it travels to the horizon, which comes about a third of the way up this composition. One, two, three, or four-story buildings line the canal to the left into the far distance. Arched doorways give direct access to the water, and one person leans out an upper-story window. The buildings are reflected in the gently rippling water, which is painted in shades of olive green. A stepped bridge crosses the canal in the near distance, and two gondoliers guide a long, narrow boat to a platform alongside the plaza in the bottom left corner of the composition. People walk or stand singly or in pairs on the plaza in the bottom right quadrant of the painting. The women wear dresses with long skirts and head coverings in shades of black, white, yellow, or pale pink. The men wear hats, jackets, capes, stockings, and slacks in shades of peanut brown, muted yellow, red, blue, or white. The people all appear to have pale, peachy skin. A statue of a man riding a horse rests on a towering platform in a grassy patch to our right. Beyond it is the blocky form of a red brick church. One man in a pair standing on the plaza gestures toward the entrance with a walking stick and others approach the central entrance. Sunlight streams across the scene from the upper right, throwing the church façade into shadow and casting a deep shadow across the face of another building that encloses the far side of the plaza. That second building has arched windows and doors, statues lining the roofline, and a winged lion over the entrance. A fat cloud trundles across a mostly empty vibrant blue sky above.
The Visit, by Pietro Longhi, 1746
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.
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.

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. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Tobias and the Angel, The Angels Appearing to Abraham, Abraham Welcoming the Three Angels (painting series), by Francesco Guardi, 1750s
    The Sacrifice of Isaac, Tobias and the Angel, The Angels Appearing to Abraham, Abraham Welcoming the Three Angels (painting series)Francesco Guardi, 1750sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. People walk, sit, or stand on a plaza along a canal lined on the far side with buildings in this horizontal landscape painting. The canal begins in the lower left corner and angles slightly right as it travels to the horizon, which comes about a third of the way up this composition. One, two, three, or four-story buildings line the canal to the left into the far distance. Arched doorways give direct access to the water, and one person leans out an upper-story window. The buildings are reflected in the gently rippling water, which is painted in shades of olive green. A stepped bridge crosses the canal in the near distance, and two gondoliers guide a long, narrow boat to a platform alongside the plaza in the bottom left corner of the composition. People walk or stand singly or in pairs on the plaza in the bottom right quadrant of the painting. The women wear dresses with long skirts and head coverings in shades of black, white, yellow, or pale pink. The men wear hats, jackets, capes, stockings, and slacks in shades of peanut brown, muted yellow, red, blue, or white. The people all appear to have pale, peachy skin. A statue of a man riding a horse rests on a towering platform in a grassy patch to our right. Beyond it is the blocky form of a red brick church. One man in a pair standing on the plaza gestures toward the entrance with a walking stick and others approach the central entrance. Sunlight streams across the scene from the upper right, throwing the church façade into shadow and casting a deep shadow across the face of another building that encloses the far side of the plaza. That second building has arched windows and doors, statues lining the roofline, and a winged lion over the entrance. A fat cloud trundles across a mostly empty vibrant blue sky above.
    The Campo di SS. Giovanni e Paolo, VeniceBernardo Bellotto, 1743/1747Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. The Visit, by Pietro Longhi, 1746
    The VisitPietro Longhi, 1746Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

First room, south wall

  1. 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
  2. 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

Second room, south wall

  1. Tobias and the Angel, by Francesco Guardi, 1750s
    Tobias and the AngelFrancesco Guardi, 1750sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. We look slightly down across a sun-drenched plaza with people scattered among ruins, buildings, and around a free-standing column in this vertical landscape painting. The people we can see have light skin. Towering trees with celery, sage, and forest-green leaves frame a small plaza paved with flax-colored stones. A tree to our right almost reaches the top of the painting, and a shorter tree in front of it has toppled onto the plaza. To our left, in the lower corner, a man sits behind a shadowy balustrade, looking down. In the lower center of the painting, a man walks toward us, holding a basket over one arm and dead poultry in the other hand, and a dog sits nearby. Slightly farther back is a tall stone column with a door in its base and a statue on top. A woman wearing a red shirt and blue skirt sits on a step in front of the door. Along the left side, the plaza gives way to a tree-lined, dirt road that meanders toward a stone arch in the middle distance, and to a cluster of low buildings beyond. Two towers catch the light, one with a slate-blue dome and the other with a peach-colored steeple. Farther back from the buildings is a dark line of trees at the base of a steep green hill dotted with groves of trees, which rises high over the plaza below. Another building complex, glowing in warm tones of straw yellow, sits at its top. Small dots of red, white, and blue suggest a handful of people making their way up the hill’s wide path. A river with moss-green water pouring over a dam extends from the lower right corner into the distance along the right edge of the painting. Near the column, a man fishes at the water’s edge. The water winds back to a row of silvery-gray buildings in the far distance. Several people in red, yellow, or white, tiny in scale, dot the riverbanks and cross the bridge. A screen of thin, pale pink clouds float across the light blue sky.
    English Landscape Capriccio with a ColumnCanaletto, c. 1754Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. A work made of oil on canvas.
    The DancePietro Longhi, c. 1750Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Second room, north wall

  1. This is a painting of a group engaged in a music session, all looking towards a large open music book in a grand, architectural setting. Behind the group are tall, ornate columns and an arched background that opens up to show a cloudy blue sky. Most of the people have open mouths as if they are singing, while one man in the back seems to be conducting, holding a up roll of paper. Some of the people in the group are seated in cushioned wooden chairs, and a yellowish cloth is draped over the surface that the large book rests on. There is a string instrument similar to a cello near the bottom left corner. The colors used are rich, earthy browns, yellows, and reds, with elements of blue and white clothing. All of the people have pale skin, and two have long white mustaches.
    The ChoristersAlessandro Magnasco, c. 1740/1745Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Nuova pianta di Roma data in luce da Giambattista Nolli l’anno MDCCXLVII, known as La Pianta Grande di Roma, by Giovanni Battista Nolli, 1748
    Nuova pianta di Roma data in luce da Giambattista Nolli l’anno MDCCXLVII, known as La Pianta Grande di RomaGiovanni Battista Nolli, 1748Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Third room, north wall

  1. 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
  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

Third room, south wall

  1. The Round Tower, from "Carceri d'invenzione" (Imaginary Prisons), by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, ca. 1749–50
    The Round Tower, from "Carceri d'invenzione" (Imaginary Prisons)Giovanni Battista Piranesi, ca. 1749–50Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. The Supper at Emmaus, by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, c. 1720
    The Supper at EmmausGiovanni Battista Piazzetta, c. 1720Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Fourth room, south wall

  1. Portrait of a Boy, ca. 1800
    Portrait of a BoyUnrecorded Italian maker, ca. 1800Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery, by Sebastiano Ricci, mid-1700s
    Christ and the Woman Taken in AdulterySebastiano Ricci, mid-1700sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art