Fall of the Giants

painting by Longhi

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 17, 2026

Quick Summary

The "Fall of the Giants" was a monumental ceiling painting by Pietro Longhi, completed in 1734 for the Palazzo Sagredo in Venice. It depicted a scene from Greek mythology, a struggle between gods and giants. Unfortunately, the work was considered both an artistic and critical failure. This setback led Longhi to shift his focus from historical subjects to genre painting, capturing intimate scenes of Venetian social and domestic life. The concept of giants, as mythical, humanlike beings, appears across various mythologies, often representing primal forces or ancient inhabitants.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

3 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Pietro Longhi
…the monumental ceiling of the Fall of the Giants (completed 1734) for the Palazzo Sagredo, was an artistic and critical failure. It is likely that because of this he left Venice for a time and studied at Bologna under the genre painter Giuseppe Maria Crespi.
Read More
…the monumental ceiling of the Fall of the Giants (completed 1734) for the Palazzo Sagredo, was an artistic and critical failure. It is likely that because of this he left Venice for a time and studied at Bologna under the genre painter Giuseppe Maria Crespi.
Read More