A Theatrical Performance  1782

by Francesco Guardi

An elegantly dressed crowd gathers to watch a play in a large salon with a high barrel-vaulted ceiling. The mostly male spectators wear long frock coats, three-cornered hats, and hair tied behind in ponytails. Francesco Guardi quickly sketched the outline of the figures and architecture, and then applied strokes of brown wash to suggest shadows or the texture of fabric. Pa...
Size: 
27.5 x 38.4 cm
Medium: 
Pen and brown ink and brush with brown wash over black chalk
Credit: 
Courtesy of The Getty