Mondo Novo: Affresco di Giandomenico Tiepolo nella Villa Tiepolo (1791), oggia alla Ca' Rezzonico, Venezia

Speranza

This fresco, which adorns the room in the Ca' Rezzonico, Venezia, is a reconstruction of an apartment in Villa Zianigo.

The fresco is anecdotal in charcter.

It shows a carnival scene, a group of revellers who are looking at a peepshow.

Popular entertainments of this kind first became common during the 17th century and spread from Italy all over Europe.

The peepshow had originated as a scientific toy intended to demonstrate the art of perspective, and one the earliest examples is said to have been constructed by Alberti in 1437.

It is characteristic of the fairground peepshows of the Baroque period that they should concentrate on producing an effect of vast distances within the framework of the wooden box.

This accounts for the exceptional sixe of the peepshow in Tiepolo's fresco.

It is is supplied with several lenses so taht a number of people can enjoy the spectacle at the same time.

A similar peepshow appears in Hogarth's engraving of Bartholomew Fair and an actual, though smaller, example, which belonged to King Carlo Alberto can be seen in the Museo del Cinema, Torino.