Two Venetian magistrates standing in front of the Palazzo Ducale, from the 'Divers portraits gravés à l'eau-forte et dediés à M.Dominique Corvi'

Giovanni David

1775 · Etching and aquatint · Drawings and Prints

This print, that depicts two Venetian magistrates standing in front of the Palazzo Ducale (Venice), is from a series of twelve 'Divers portraits' dedicated to Domenico Corvi, David's teacher in Rome. All of the figures pertain to Venice and its environs and reflect the sophistication and theatricality that characterized the city's culture in the eighteenth century. Along the bottom of this print is an inscription taken from the work of the French satirist Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (published from 1666) that addresses society's morals and customs.

Artist

Giovanni David

Date

1775

Medium

Etching and aquatint

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 2019