Giacomo Casanova

Artist Alessandro Longhi (Italian, 1733-1813)

Place of OriginVenice, Italy

Dateabout 1775

DimensionsH: 40 1/4 in. (102 cm); W: 35 1/2 in. (90 cm)

MediumOil on canvas.

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1965.165

Not on View

Label TextA regal, older gentleman is here shown wearing a fashionable powdered wig and expensive clothing and with a pose that communicates elegance and confidence. He stands at a writing desk, holding a book. The prominence of the book suggests he may be an author, and his resemblance to known portraits of Giacomo Casanova (1725–1798) resulted in a previous owner identifying the man in this portrait as the famous diarist. Born in Venice to actors, Casanova would charm his way into wealthy and aristocratic circles across Europe, gaining a reputation as a libertine along the way. He recorded his remarkable adventures—both amorous and otherwise—in his memoir, Story of My Life, which would not be published until decades after his death. Venetian artist Alessandro Longhi was the son of a prominent painter, Piero Longhi, and the official portraitist to the Venetian Academy. A portrait of Casanova as a young man is also attributed to Longhi.Published References"New Accessions, U. S. A.," Gazette des Beau-Arts, vol. 67, no. 1165, Feb. 1966, p. 57, repr. no. 221, p. 56.

"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums," Art Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 2, 1966, p. 168, repr. p. 176.

Masters, John, Casanova, London, 1969, repr. p. 231.

Fredericksen, B., and F. Zeri, Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Collections, Cambridge (Mass.), 1972, pp. 108, 511, 641.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, p. 98, pl. 39.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Painting in Italy in the Eighteenth Century, 1971 (in Toledo only).