Giambattista Tiepolo
Tiepolo, Giambattista
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Gian Battista Tiepolo
<p>Giambattista Tiepolo was one of the most significant Venetian painters, draftsmen, and printmakers of the 18th century. Founder and head of a successful family workshop, Tiepolo’s activity ranged from grand-scale wall frescoes, to religious and secular paintings on canvas, to works in the more intimate mediums of etching and drawing. Working with his sons, <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/36973/giovanni-domenico-tiepolo" target="_blank">Giovanni Domenico</a> and <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/59059/lorenzo-tiepolo" target="_blank">Lorenzo</a>, Tiepolo carried out prestigious commissions in Italy and abroad, famously including the residence of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg in Germany and the Spanish royal palace in Madrid.&nbsp;</p><p>Tiepolo achieved renown at a young age working for the Catholic Church and the nobility. The <a href="https://www.artic.edu/collection?q=rinaldo&amp;classification_ids=painting&amp;artist_ids=Giambattista+Tiepolo" target="_blank">four large canvases</a> at the Art Institute are enchanting examples of the lavish, brightly colored paintings he executed for the palaces of the Venetian aristocracy. Depicting scenes from Torquato Tasso’s 16th-century epic romance <em>Gerusalemme Liberata</em>, the canvases once decorated the walls of a Venetian palazzo. The Art Institute’s <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/16434/virgin-and-child-with-saints-dominic-and-hyacinth" target="_blank"><em>Virgin and Child with Saints Dominic and Hyacinth</em></a> is among Tiepolo’s many religious paintings commissioned for churches.&nbsp;</p><p>One of the most talented draftsmen of his time, Tiepolo produced a large number of <a href="https://www.artic.edu/collection?artist_ids=Giambattista%20Tiepolo&amp;classification_ids=drawings%20%28visual%20works%29" target="_blank">drawings</a> in different media. Whether in <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/111378/the-meeting-of-abraham-and-melchizedek" target="_blank">highly finished compositions</a> or <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/29416/rest-on-the-flight-into-egypt" target="_blank">rapid sketches</a>, his pen and ink wash drawings are remarkable for their seamless blend of linear energy and painterly softness. He also practiced his hand by drawing <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/113293/caricature-of-a-man-full-length-facing-left" target="_blank">caricatures</a>, mostly for his private amusement. Tiepolo often used <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/244913/the-head-of-a-young-man-in-profile-to-the-left-recto-studies-of-allegorical-figures-verso" target="_blank">red chalk</a> on blue paper to sketch from life or make preparatory studies for his paintings.&nbsp;</p><p>In the 1730s and 1740s, Tiepolo worked on two series of etchings in which he envisioned a fantasy world inhabited by satyrs, soldiers, shepherds, and venerable old men in fanciful dress. First published in 1743 the ten <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/14257/death-giving-audience-from-capricci" target="_blank"><em>Capricci</em></a> depict picturesque, sometimes supernatural or even macabre scenes, while the 24 <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/111156/the-discovery-of-the-tomb-of-punchinello-from-scherzi" target="_blank"><em>Scherzi</em></a> are generally more enigmatic, melancholy compositions. Both series were very influential, inspiring, among others, the great printmakers <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/36210/giovanni-battista-piranesi" target="_blank">Giovanni Battista Piranesi</a> and <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artists/40615/francisco-jose-de-goya-y-lucientes" target="_blank">Francisco Goya</a>.</p>
Giambattista Tiepolo
Italian, 1696-1770 Attributed to Giambattista Tiepolo
Italian, 1696-1770 Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Italian, 1696–1770 Attributed to Giambattista Tiepolo (Italian, 1696-1770)
or an unknown artist (Italian, 18th century) After Giambattista Tiepolo (Italian, 1696-1770)
or style of Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini (Italian, 1675-1741) Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Italian, 1696-1770