Il Ridotto
1752/55
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over black chalk, on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
29.6 × 52.1 cm (11 11/16 × 20 9/16 in.)
Classification
drawings (visual works)
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
113295
Art Historical Context
**Il Ridotto** by Giovanni Antonio Guardi, created around 1752–55, captures the vibrant, clandestine world of Venice's elite gambling halls known as *ridotti*. These exclusive venues, often tucked into theaters during Carnival season, blurred social boundaries as masked nobles and commoners mingled amid games of chance, flirtation, and revelry. Guardi, a Venetian artist from the celebrated Guardi family, masterfully evokes this decadent atmosphere in a panoramic drawing that reflects the city's 18th-century fascination with pleasure and transience. Executed on ivory laid paper with black chal...