as romantic encounters. The woman and her husband are unmasked, but at the left, a seated woman is unmasking herself to address a masked man leaning over her shoulder. This act may suggest that the woman's Moretta mask, which lacks an opening for the mouth, requires her to unmask herself in order to speak; another interpretation is that the woman is interested enough in the masked man to remove her mask in order to reveal her true identity to him. In The Charlatan (1757) the charlatan is relegated to the background, where he stands on top of a table surrounded by admiring women and a young boy. In the foreground, a masked woman seems to fiddle with her fan and slyly look at a masked man who lifts part of her dress. There is a sense of duality as the ordinary event of the man on the top of the table is contrasted with the reality of Venetian life represented by the couple indulging themselves; this is similar to the duality of the mask used by his subjects to hide physically, but to expose their unconscious desires. In The Ridotto in Venice (ca. 1750s), Longhi depicts one of the main gambling halls in Venice. The scene is crowded with masked and unmasked figures. The focal point in this work depicts a now-familiar scene of a shy woman and an aggressive man who lifts her dress. Repeating the figures of the flirtatious couple, Longhi displays the Ridotto as a place where the social elite— who would not exhibit such behavior in public nor unmasked—would abandon all inhibitions and pursue their actual desires. Gallery Works San Pellegrino sentenced to execution, 1730–1732, oil on canvas, 400x340, parish church of San Pellegrino Adoration of the Magi, 1730–1732, oil on canvas, 190x150, Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista, Venice Fall of the giants (1734) frescoes, Ca' Sagredo, Venice Shepherd sitting, (1740) oil on canvas, 61x48, Museo Civico, Bassano Pastorello standing, (1740) oil on canvas, 61x48, Museo Civico, Bassano Shepherdess with flower, (1740) oil on canvas, 61x48, Museo Civico, Bassano Shepherdess with cock, (1740) oil on canvas, 61x48, Museo Civico, Bassano Pastorello standing, (1740) oil on canvas, 61x45, Museo del Seminario, Rovigo The spinner, (1740) oil on canvas, 61x50, Ca' Rezzonico, Venice The Washerwomen, (1740) oil on panel, 61x50, Ca' Rezzonico, Venice The happy couple, (1740) oil on canvas, 61x50, Ca' Rezzonico, Venice The polenta, (1740) oil