Venetian Serenade 

Wilhelm Kotarbinski painted ‘Venetian Serenade,’ capturing a gondola gliding through the waters of Venice. The image is rich in detail, from the architecture in the background to the expressions on the faces of the passengers. It’s tempting to see this as purely aesthetic, but the serenade tradition also involves deeply gendered dynamics. The women in the gondola are passive, the recipients of the performance. While the men actively perform for them, wielding their instruments, and steering the vessel. Kotarbinski seems interested in the theatrics of it all. He invites us to consider the social rituals and power dynamics at play here. Whose voices are heard, and whose stories are being told? While the painting invites us into a world of beauty and romance, there are also subtle questions being raised about who gets to participate in this world.