Ochre Editions
SearchSign inCart (0)

18th-century Italy

Works made in Italy in the 18th century.

49 works · hang 8718 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

First room, north wall

  1. A work made of etching on ivory laid paper.
    View of the Villa of His Eminence Cardinal Alessandro Albani, outside Porta Salaria, from Views of RomeGiovanni Battista Piranesi, 1769, published 1800–07Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. The Meeting, by Pietro Longhi, 1746
    The MeetingPietro Longhi, 1746Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. We look slightly down onto a port-side town along a canal, with a church across the water from us in this horizontal landscape painting. A bright blue sky with billowing white, pink, and gray clouds fills the top two-thirds of the painting. Below, a three-masted ship with all but one sail furled is surrounded by a couple dozen black long, low boats, gondolas, and one or two other sailboats. People stand and walk mostly in pairs and trios along the stone walkway under us, which extends into the distance to our right. The women all wear long dresses and most of the men wear suits with knee-length jackets with tails or capes, and hats. The clothing is painted in shades of brick and terracotta red, pine green, royal blue, and gray. The walkway is interrupted by two low walls that partition off an area near us. The angled roofs of stalls line the walkway in the farther distance before it is again interrupted, this time by a two-story, cream-colored building. The walkway continues as a narrower path under an arched arcade on the lower level of that building, alongside the water. On the far side of the canal, to our left and in the distance, a cluster of ivory-white buildings includes a structure with two stone-blue domes. More buildings extend into the deep distance to our left.
    Entrance to the Grand Canal from the Molo, VeniceCanaletto, 1742/1744Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

First room, south wall

  1. A work made of oil on canvas.
    The DancePietro Longhi, c. 1750Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  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 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
  4. 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

Second 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. 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
  3. Warwick Castle: The East Front, by Canaletto, 1752
    Warwick Castle: The East FrontCanaletto, 1752Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Second room, north wall

  1. Dozens of men with several women and a few children gather in pairs or small groups across a sun-drenched plaza in front of a domed church next to a long, pale pink building in this horizontal painting. The people’s faces and hands we can see have pale, peachy skin. The men wear hats and shin-length capes or jackets over stockings in tones of charcoal gray, olive green, butterscotch yellow, black, and brown. The women wear black capes covering their heads and long, full skirts. The ash-brown plaza has two zones where geometric patterns are picked out in a lighter, oatmeal brown. Three coral-red flagpoles are spaced along the center of the plaza parallel to the two buildings. Each flagpole rests on an olive-green base about a third of the height of the pole. Tables under open umbrellas clustered around the outer two flagpoles display piles of cloth, and a few people gather around the wares. The domed building extends into the scene from the left edge of the painting, and reaches about a third of the way across as it angles away from us. It has a central portal with nested arches, flanked to each side by a pair of slightly smaller, arched portals. Scenes against gold backgrounds appear in the archway of each of the five doors. There is a second level of arches above. The smaller arches to either side are decorated with more scenes of people against gold backgrounds. Four gold horses stand atop the central, lower arch, each with one front and one back hoof raised. The arch behind them is dim, the back side of a stained-glass window. The stone of the arches and front of the building are light brown. The upper arches are lined with pale, slate-gray spires and curling tracery. The three-story pink building sits close by to our right, extending into the distance on the same angle as the church, and as tall as its neighbor. The lowest level is a series of open, pointed arches. The second level is also a row of arches, but more closely spaced. People walk and stand under both covered walkways. The top half of the building has a carnation-pink façade with seven windows evenly spaced across its width. The central window is surrounded by carved stone ornament. Along the right edge of the painting and closer to us than the large buildings is the corner of a two-story building. The lower level is in shadow under a sloping awning, creating a merchant’s stall, and the second level has a rounded, arched window. One person stands at the front corner of the roof and looks down into the square. In the narrow gap between the row of buildings to our left and the smaller structure to our right is a winged lion atop a tall column. Beyond that is sparkling blue water with several masted ships and long, narrow gondolas. The sky above has thin white clouds against a pale blue sky. The artist signed the lower left, “A.C.F.”
    The Square of Saint Mark's, VeniceCanaletto, 1742/1744Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. The Triumph of Marius, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1729
    The Triumph of MariusGiovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1729Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Third room, north wall

  1. The painting depicts many large and small ships on blue-green water. Gondolas in shades of gold, black, red, and blue drift across the water, small people on them pushing long poles through the water. There are also large sailboats and long boats with several rowers. They create a colorful mix. On the left, a large brown building with columns is visible. Some of the boats pull up to it, and many people in colorful clothing are visible on the shore. Behind the water are more large buildings in shades of brown, cream, and tan, with even more people visible on the streets below them. There is a large tower in the center of the painting, and several blue domes are visible in the distance. The sky is light blue, with white and gray clouds drifting across it.
    Procession of Gondolas in the Bacino di San Marco, VeniceAntonio Joli, 1742 or afterCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. A work made of chiaroscuro woodcut, from three blocks in pink, dark blue, and light blue, on cream laid paper.
    The Old ShepherdConte Antonio Maria Zanetti, the Elder, 1722Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Third room, south wall

  1. 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
  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