(Venice 1701–1785)
The Elephant, indistinctly signed, dated and inscribed on the notice, upper left: … del Elefante / … / … anno 1[7]74 / … per mano [di] / [Pietro] Longhi / … commissione del … / Giuseppe Bo..a..,
oil on canvas, 48 x 61.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Formerly European private collection

Exhibited:
Gorizia, Palazzo della Torre, Le Meraviglie di Venezia. Dipinti dell‘700 in collezioni private, 14 March – 27 July 2008, no. 58

Literature:
A. Delnieri, in: Le Meraviglie di Venezia. Dipinti dell‘700 in collezioni private, ed. by D. Succi / A. Delnieri, exh. cat., Milan, 2008, p. 182, no. 58

The present painting depicts an Indian elephant brought to Venice in 1774 during the carnival season for public exhibition, and Longhi here captures this event in an almost documentary fashion.

Longhi produced three other known versions of the present compostion each portraying a different group of figures before the elephant. One was commissioned by a nobelwoman, Marina Sagredo Pisani, and is in the collection of Banca Intesa Collection, Vicenza (formerly collection of Giuseppe Salom; see T. Pignatti, Pietro Longhi,1968, p. 97, fig. 255) another commissioned by S.E. Domenica Dolfin Valier is in a private collection in Paris (see E. Martini la pittura del Settecento Veneto,1982, p.546, cat.326, fig. 270) and a third commissioned by Sebastian Rizzo was sold at Sotheby´s, New York, 31st January 2013, lot 78. According to the inscriptions in the upper left corners, each of the paintings was created for a different patron, all of whom were most probably included in the respective compositions.

The present composition is similar to the Pisani version in that the artist not only signs the work but indeed paints a self-potrait, in both compositions placing himself in an elevated postion, presiding over the scene and sketching intently as though to verify that the portrait had been drawn from life as he concentrates entirely on the spectacle on the stage while drawing the exotic animal dal vero. In the foreground the patron appears, who, due to the inscription, may only be identified as ‘Giuseppe Bo..a […]’. From his garment, a scarlet coat (tabarro), it is certain that he was a patrician. Fascinated by what he sees, he observes and tries to distract the animal, listening to the explanations of its trainer who is dressed in turquoise with an unusual hussar-like tasselled fur trimmed cap.

Pietro Longhi was an important chronicler of his time who recorded the spectacular attractions staged in Venice during the carnival season in numerous paintings and more than twenty years earlier in 1751, Giovanni Grimani commissioned him to paint The Rhinoceros (Ca‘ Rezzonico, Venice), and in 1762 it was probably Andrea Querini who entrusted him with the execution of The Lion’s Cage (Pinacoteca della Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice).The present painting is characterised by its blazing colours and expressive portraiture. Longhi works have always been greatly appreciated for the imitation of nature and depiction of everyday life in late 18th century Venice.