Francesco Polazzo (1682-1752), Attributed to - The Seduction

Attributed to Francesco Polazzo (Venice 1682 - Venice 1752) - The Seduction (The Young Woman and the Old Man in Love).

90 x 68 cm (unframed) - 104 x 81 cm (framed).

Oil on oval canvas, in a gilded wooden frame.

The painting is attributed to Francesco Polazzo, a prominent figure in Venetian painting of the first half of the 18th century. Active during the Venetian Rococo period, Polazzo developed a style characterized by loose brushwork, lively rendering of figures, and a marked sensitivity to genre subjects and scenes of romantic conversation, clearly influenced by the work of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta.
The composition depicts a young woman in half-length in the foreground, gazing outward at the viewer with a composed and slightly detached expression. Beside her, a bearded old man approaches her insistently, offering her a decorated casket, a gesture that alludes to an offering and venal seduction. The oval format focuses the tension between the two figures, accentuated by the contrast between the freshness of the female figure and the physiognomic characterization of the old man, rendered with effective realism. The palette, with warm flesh tones and pink and ochre draperies, reveals a Venetian color tradition filtered through Piazzetta style, evident in the chiaroscuro contrasts and the figures' plasticity.

Condition report: Lined canvas. The painted surface is in good condition, with traces of previous restorations.


This item is sold with a certificate of authenticity with legal validity.
- Further informations on the condition report are available upon request.
- All shipments are handled with professional packaging. The frame, if present, is to be understood as a gift and therefore its structural integrity during transport is not guaranteed.

Note for non-Italian buyers: This work has not yet obtained the certificate of free export from Italy, is-sued by the Superintendency of Cultural Heritage, which certifies that the work does not belong to the Italian cultural heritage and may therefore be freely exported. The regulations in force from 2026 pro-vide for reduced processing times for works with a declared value below €50,000, at the discretion of the expert committee: typically 2-3 weeks from the submission of the request. All costs related to this procedure are included in the price.

Rendering Disclaimer: Lifestyle images are AI-generated for illustrative purposes only and may not ac-curately reflect the actual proportions of the work.