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Detected Love Letter
Detected Love Letter

Detected Love Letter

Artist (Italian, ca. 1722 – 1770)
Date1750s
CultureItalian
MediumOil on canvas
ClassificationPaintings
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN170
A young girl's amorous intrigue has been detected. Probably her younger brother, smiling in the background, was the one who revealed her secret. Her angry father threatens her with a strap while her mother reaches into the pocket of her dress. A torn pocket is a metaphor for lost virtue. Such bourgeois comic-dramas were invented in the 18th century. The realism of the subject and its direct depiction have parallels in contemporary theater, such as the plays of Carlo Goldoni, and stand in sharp contrast to the high-minded classicism of paintings such as Angelica's Kauffman's Sappho Inspired by Love.
On View
Not on view
DimensionsFrame: 38 7/8 x 47 1/2 x 2 1/2 in. (98.7 x 120.7 x 6.4 cm)
Image: 34 1/2 x 42 3/4 in. (87.6 x 108.6 cm)
Interior with Monkeys
Gaspare Diziani
ca. 1717 - 20
Allegory of Love
Luca Giordano
ca. late 1660s - 70s
High Res photography cropped
Angelica Kauffmann
1775
The Triumph of Divine Love
Peter Paul Rubens
c. 1625
High res image without frame
Sir William Reynolds-Stephens
1893
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta
mid 1700s
Pastoral Scene
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta
mid 1700s
Pastoral Scene
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta
mid 1700s
Pastoral Scene
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta
mid 1700s