Artwork
The Temptation
The Temptation is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Pietro Longhi. It dates from 1746 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection.
The work titled The Temptation, painted by Pietro Longhi in 1746, portrays a domestic interior populated by four figures: a woman, a man, a domestic worker, and a prostitute. The composition reflects the genre practice of Venetian painting in the mid-eighteenth century, in which everyday scenes were used to explore social interactions and moral undertones. By placing a prostitute alongside a man and a domestic worker within a private setting, Longhi invites viewers to consider themes of temptation, domestic order, and the blurred boundaries between public and private life. The painting is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1746, Pietro Longhi's The Temptation is an oil painting on a canvas support. The work measures 60.9 cm in height by 49.5 cm in width. Stylistically, the composition depicts an interior scene featuring a woman, a man, and a domestic worker, with the narrative context identifying one female figure as a prostitute.
The handling of the medium reflects Longhi's place within the genre-painting tradition of mid-eighteenth-century Venice, using oil pigments to render figures within an intimate domestic setting.
History & Provenance
The Temptation by Pietro Longhi is dated 1746, consistent with the artist's documented activity in mid-18th-century Venice. The painting is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Longhi's authorship and the work's date are supported by the museum's classification and the recorded dimensions (height 60.9 cm, width 49.5 cm).
The composition's iconography, a domestic interior with several figures, reflects Longhi's characteristic genre scenes, situating the work within his oeuvre of the 1740s. The available sources do not record a specific accession number or exhibition history.
Overview
Pietro Longhi's 1746 oil painting, The Temptation, depicts a private interior scene with multiple figures. This work, now part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, exemplifies Longhi's characteristic focus on genre subjects. It offers a glimpse into the social dynamics and domestic settings prevalent in 18th-century Venice, presenting an ambiguous interaction among its occupants.
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