MORLAITER, Michelangelo
(b. 1729, Venezia, d. 1806, Venezia)

Venetian Reception (detail)

c. 1766
Fresco
Palazzo Grassi, Venice

Morlaiter's decoration develops along the walls of the staircase space, at the level of the second landing. Inside seven large arches delimited by Ionic pilasters, he painted a large faux loggia, closed off at the back by a marble wall, against which statues of goddesses stand inside aedicules surmounted by rectangular tympanums. A carnival-like reception is under way on the loggia, and the participants include a number of elegant ladies and noblemen, some in wigs, some in three-cornered hats, as well as a prelate and an Eastern figure, all busy conversing amiably, or sipping coffee and liquors served by efficient waiters in livery.

The picture shows the wall opposite the grand staircase.