Pietro Longhi (Venice, 1701-1785) was a famous Venetian painter in the 1700s.
A pupil of Antonio Balestra, he initially following the great decorative tradition (Fall of the Titans, 1734, Palazzo Sagredo, Venice) before feeling the influence of Giuseppe Maria Crespi of Bologna, as can be seen in his Peasant Scenes in Ca' Rezzonico and at the Pinacoteca Querini Stampalia, Venice.

In 1745 he decorated the Chapel of Madonna di Loreto in the Church of S. Pantalon.
In 1756 he joined Venice’s Accademia delle Belle Arti (painting and sculpture), directed by Giambattista Tiepolo, and taught here for more than twenty years. In 1762 he completed one of his most famous works for the Accademia, his Pythagoras the Philosopher. At the same time, he received many a commission from the Venetian nobility (the Grimani, Manin and Querini families).

Pietro Longhi’s paintings cleverly reproduced the customs and everyday scenes in Venice with spirit and elegance, resembling in some ways Goldoni’s theatre: The Concert, The Dance Master, The Toilette and The Tooth-Drawer (all at the Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice); Rhinoceros Show and The Visit of the Moor (Cà Rezzonico, Venice); Scenes from Domestic Life (Pinacoteca Querini Stampalia, Venice).

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