THE REAL CASANOVA—“An Almost African Complexion” (Venetian School, 18th Century, Head of a youth)This portrait is now identified by curators at Christie’s as “Head of a youth, a study” from the ‘Venetian School’, 18th century…It was actually painted by Francesco Giuseppe Casanova c. 1750…Francesco was the younger brother of Giacomo Casanova…Francesco’s career began in the workshops of Giovanni Antonio Guardi…Guardi was one of the founders of the Venetian Academy (Venetian School) in 1750…Thus, Francesco’s and Guardi’s careers both began in the Venetian School in the 18th century…Hence the title of the portrait…Giacomo Casanova was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice...Prince Charles de Ligne, a friend of his, described him around 1784 when he was about 60 years old…“HE would be a very fine man if he was not ugly. He is tall, built like a Hercules, but with an almost African complexion”SOURCE;(The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, the Prince of Adventurers, Volume 1; 1902)An “almost African complexion” refers to skin tones that are similar to those commonly found among many African ethnic groups, which predominantly range from light brown to deep black…This term is used to describe skin tones that are darker than your average so called white person, but not as deep as the darkest shades typically associated with some African populations like in the South Sudan for example…The diversity of skin tones across Africa reflects a broad spectrum of melanin levels…So called Blacks have the highest variance of skin color on earth…“Human skin color diversity is highest in sub-Saharan African populations” I’m not saying Casanova was African…Giacomo Girolamo Casanova was a Venetian adventurer and author…His autobiography, Histoire de ma vie (Story of My Life), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of the customs and norms of European social life during the 18th century…He has become so famous for his often complicated and elaborate affairs with women that his name is now synonymous with "womanizer"He associated with European royalty, popes, and cardinals, along with the artistic figures Voltaire, Goethe, and Mozart…In regard to the other portrait, clearly, there is no attempt to accurately depict Casanova, caricature is used…A surprising number of people, do not understand that museum art, movies and television, reflect what is called "Artistic license"...It is a colloquial term, or euphemism, used to denote the DISTORTION OF FACT...Beginning during the 20th century and even earlier, so called white artists took to depicting historical people, as they hoped or imagined them to look, and in doing so, they made EVERYONE White, but that is not reality...In the arts, Idealism encourages imagination and attempts to realize a mental conception of beauty, a standard of perfection, juxtaposed to naturalism and realism...In painting, idealism refers to the tradition of creating a "perfect" figure - one with a “goodlooking” face, “perfect” hair, a “good” body shape and no outward blemishes of any kind, rarely if ever painted or drawn from life...Essentially, it’s an "artificial" style of painting, that bears no resemblance to naturalism (caricature)

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