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(b Venice, 15 Nov. 1701; d Venice, 8 May 1785). Venetian painter. Although he carried out some fresco commissions he is known principally as a painter of small genre scenes of contemporary patrician and low life. These charming and often gently satirical scenes were very popular, although surprisingly he does not seem to have been patronized by English visitors to Venice. He was prolific and occasionally painted more than one version of his own compositions; these again were often duplicated by pupils and followers. His son Alessandro Longhi (b Venice, 1733; d Venice, ?8 Nov. 1813) was a successful portraitist. He was the official portrait painter to the Venetian Academy, so he was in a good position for compiling his book Compendio delle vite de' pittori veneziani istorici (1762), a collection of biographies of Venetian artists; each subject is illustrated by a portrait that Longhi etched himself.

Text source: The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford University Press)


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