Kneeling page with tray 

Giovanni Battista Pittoni made this drawing of a Kneeling Page with Tray at an unknown date, using red chalk on paper. Pittoni worked in Venice, a city renowned for its lavish displays of wealth and power in the 18th century. Venice was a Republic with a complex social hierarchy that valued appearances. Aristocratic families employed many servants to maintain their luxurious lifestyles. Paintings and drawings that depict servants, such as this one, reflected that social structure. The page's kneeling posture emphasizes his subservient role, highlighting the social norms of the time. Red chalk, a popular medium for preparatory sketches, allowed artists to quickly capture figures and compositions. To fully understand the context of Pittoni’s work, we can examine Venetian history, costume books, and inventories of aristocratic households. This kind of research allows us to appreciate how art both reflects and shapes the social hierarchies of its time.