Poor lad! I like how, in Longhi's paintings, these presumed "curiosities" are more real than the people who come to see them, all behind masks and cloaks that make them look fake.
I’ve done quite a bit of research on Cornelius Magrath. He must have had serious health problems, and when he first began exhibiting himself he was only about sixteen years old.
At the time, however, it was common to display “wonders of nature”, and those wonders included human beings as well.
After all, freak shows survived well into the twentieth century.
In fact, what I like about Longhi is the single irony in his paintings, often at the expense of the Venetian nobility (who, incidentally, were paying for them)
Poor lad! I like how, in Longhi's paintings, these presumed "curiosities" are more real than the people who come to see them, all behind masks and cloaks that make them look fake.
I’ve done quite a bit of research on Cornelius Magrath. He must have had serious health problems, and when he first began exhibiting himself he was only about sixteen years old.
At the time, however, it was common to display “wonders of nature”, and those wonders included human beings as well.
After all, freak shows survived well into the twentieth century.
I know, thank god for "wokeness"!
In fact, what I like about Longhi is the single irony in his paintings, often at the expense of the Venetian nobility (who, incidentally, were paying for them)
Yep, the joke's on them.