hispers of the world. Their
dresses are trimmed with _point de Venise_, and a little theatre is
visible in the background. This and the "Sala del Ridotto" which hangs
near, are marked by a free, bold handling, a richness of colouring, and
more animation than is usual in his genre-pictures. He has not preserved
the lovely, indeterminate colour or the impressionist touch which was
the natural inheritance of Watteau or Tiepolo. His backgrounds are dark
and heavy, and he makes too free a use of body colour; but his attitude
is one of close observation--he enjoys depicting the life around him,
and we suspect that he sees in it the most perfect form of social
intercourse imaginable. Longhi is sometimes called the Goldoni of
painting, and he certainly more nearly resembles the genial, humorous
playwright than he does Hogarth, to whom he has also been compared. Yet
his execution and technique are a little like Hogarth's, and it is
possible that he was influenced by the elder and stronger master, who
entered on his triumphant career as a satirical painter of society
about 1734. This was just the time when Longhi abandoned his unlucky
decorative style, and it is quite possible that he may have met with
engravings of the "Marriage a la mode," and was stimulated by them to
the study of eighteenth-century manners, though his own temperament is
far removed from Hogarth's moral force and grim satire. His serene,
painstaking observation is never distracted by grossness and violence.
The Venetians of his day may have been--undoubtedly were--effeminate,
licentious, and decadent, but they were kind and gracious, of refined
manners, well-bred, genial and intelligent, and so Longhi has
transcribed them. In the time which followed, ceilings were covered by
Boucher, pastels by Latour were in demand, the scholars of David painted
classical scenes, and Pietro Longhi was forgotten. Antonio Francesco
Correr bought five hundred of his drawings from his son, Alessandro, but
his works were ignored and dispersed. The classic and romantic fashions
passed, but it was only in 1850 that the brothers de Goncourt, writing
on art, revived consideration for the painter of a bygone generation.
Many of his works are in private collections, especially in England, but
few are in public galleries. The National Gallery is fortunate in
possessing several excellent examples.

[Illustration: _Pietro Longhi._
VISIT TO THE FORTUNE-TELLER.