Members of the Longhi family were active in Venice. Pietro Longhi was the son of Alessandro Falca, who has been variously noted as a painter and goldsmith. It is not known when or why Pietro adopted the name of Longhi, under which he always worked. He was best known for his small genre paintings that were outside the mainstream of contemporary Venetian art. His son Alessandro Longhi was also individualistic in approach and was most admired for the realistic qualities of his unofficial portraits, many of which depict humble subjects.