The Music Lesson (The Bird Cage), c.1740/45 Pietro Longhi (c.1702-1785)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Pietro Longhi also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting The Music Lesson (The Bird Cage) is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

We offer free shipping as well as paid express transportation services.

After adding your artwork to the shopping cart, you will be able to check the delivery price using the Estimate Shipping and Tax tool.

The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

Pietro Longhi's "The Music Lesson (The Bird Cage)" - what a slice of 18th-century Venetian life, painted with all the charm and none of the grandeur that some of his contemporaries might have indulged in. Look closely at this intimate moment. It’s a scene of aristocratic leisure, but it’s far from stiff. There's a warmth in the air, and the whole painting feels like a snapshot of an afternoon - a casual family moment with a side of culture.

In the foreground, a well-dressed woman, seated elegantly, is clearly the focus. Her dress, that luscious yellow silk, is painted with such care that you can almost hear the rustle of fabric. It contrasts with the darker, muted tones of the room, like a spotlight on stage. To her left, a gentleman - presumably her music teacher or companion - stands poised, sheet music in hand. He looks at the viewer with a slight air of pride, or perhaps expectation, as if we're the audience to this cozy recital. Behind him, two other figures - one fiddling with a violin and the other observing from the shadows - add a sense of quiet movement to the scene.

And that birdcage, suspended overhead, is not just decorative. It’s symbolic. The caged bird mirrors the controlled, refined atmosphere - elegance constrained within the rules of society. The painting's composition, although detailed, isn't overwhelming. Everything is placed just right, and there’s a gentle diagonal line leading your eye from the woman to the man, to the musician, and finally to the birdcage. The colors are rich but reserved, the brushstrokes neat and delicate. Longhi was never one for drama - his strength was in capturing the everyday rituals of the Venetian elite with a light touch, and here, it’s all about refinement, calm, and, let’s be honest, a little bit of flaunting that wealth.