The Letter, 1746, Oil on canvas, 24 x 19 1/2 in. (61 x 49. 5 cm), Paintings, Pietro Longhi (Pietro Falca) (Italian, Venice 1701?1785 Venice), An older man with a coin in his hand negotiates with a procuress for the favors of a pretty young woman, who reads with evident pleasure the letter he has written her. The great Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni praised Longhi's dedication to truth, by which he meant the way the artist chronicled the foibles of contemporary society