Francesco Guardi

In Venice in the 1700s, a ridotto could refer to a gathering place where business and politics were discussed or a foyer where theatergoers played games of chance at intermission. This painting depicts the city’s primary ridotto pubblico, a public gaming house in a wing of Palazzo Dandolo. Venetian citizens and foreign visitors gambled, flirted, and mingled freely there, often disguising their identities. Illuminated by flickering chandeliers, women hid their faces behind small black oval masks, while men in tricorne hats found anonymity in black hooded cloaks and white masks called bautte.