TIEPOLO, GIOVANNI BATTISTA

born March 5, 1696, Venice died March 27, 1770, Madrid, Spain Wedding Ceremony of Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa and Beatrix of Burgundy in 1156, great Italian painter of the 18th century. His luminous, poetic frescoes (e.g., The Banquet of Anthony and Cleopatra, before 1750), while extending the tradition of Baroque ceiling decoration, epitomize the lightness and elegance of the Rococo period (see photograph). Additional reading Contemporary sources and those of the late 18th century recognized the greatness of Tiepolo: Vincenzo da Canal, Vita di Gregorio Lazzarini (1732; ed. by G.A. Moschini, 1809); A. Longhi, Compendio delle vite dei pittori veneziani storici pi rinomati (1762); Francesco Algarotti, Opere, 8 vol. (176465); A.M. Zanetti, Della pittura veneziana (1771); Luigi A. Lanzi, Stria pittorica della Italia, 3 vol. (179596). Neoclassicism brought a disregard for the artist, who was often cited in negative criticisms and was admired only in evaluations of certain writers and painters of the second half of the 19th century, such as Gautier and Degas. It is necessary to come to the beginning of our century to discover a reevaluation and a reconstruction of the work of Tiepolo in numerous monographs: Pompeo G. Molmenti, G.B. Tiepolo: La sua vita e le sue opere (1909); Eduard Sack, Giambattista und Domenico Tiepolo (1910); Antonio Morassi, Tiepolo, 2nd ed. (1950; G.B. Tiepolo: His Life and Work, 1955); A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings of G.B. Tiepolo (1962); Guido Piovene and Anna Pallucchini (eds.), L'opera completa di Giambattista Tiepolo (1968). There are many studies on the painting cycles of the artist: Antonio Morassi, Tiepolo e la Villa Valmarana (1945); Rodolfo Pallucchini, Gli affreschi di Giambattista e Giandomenico Tiepolo alla Villa Valmarana di Vicenza (1945); M.H. von Freeden and Carl Lamb, Das Meisterwerk des Giovani Battista Tiepolo: Die Fresken der Wrzburger Residenz (1956); Paolo d'Ancona, Gli affreschi di Palazzo Clerici: Tiepolo a Milano (1956); Carla Guglielmi Faldi, Tiepolo alla Scuola dei Carmini di Venezia (1960). Catalogs from expositions have contributed to the diffusion of knowledge about the artist: Giulio Lorenzetti, Mostra del Tiepolo (1951); Aldo Rizzi, Catalogo della mostra del Tiepolo a Udine, 2 vol. (1971). Important studies on his drawings are: Detlev von Hadeln (ed.), Handzeichnungen von G.B. Tiepolo, 2 vol. (1927; The Drawings of G.B. Tiepolo, 2 vol. 1928; reprinted 1970); Giorgio Vigni, Disegni del Tiepolo (1942); George Knox, Catalogue of the Tiepolo Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum (1960); Terisio Pignatti, Le acqueforti dei Tiepolo (1965); Aldo Rizzi, Catalogo della mostra dei desegni del Tiepolo (1965); Tiepolo: A Bicentenary Exhibition, 17701970, catalog by George Knox (1970); Aldo Rizzi (ed.), L'opera grafica dei Tiepolo. Le acqueforti (1971; The Etchings of the Tiepolos, 1972); Anna Pallucchini, Giambattista Tiepolo (1971), in Italian; H.D. Russell, Rare Etchings by Giovanni Battista and Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (1972); and George Knox, Etchings by the Tiepolos (1976). Major Works: Paintings. The Sacrifice of Isaac (The Sacrifice of Abraham; 171516; Sta. Maria dei Derelitti, or Ospedaletto, Venice); Repudiation of Hagar (171719; Rasini Collection, Milan); The Madonna of Carmelo and the Souls of Purgatory (c. 1720; Brera, Milan); Glory of St. Theresa (c. 1720; church of the Scalzi, Venice); The Force of Eloquence (c. 172425; Palazzo Cipollato, Venice); frescoes (c. 1726; Palazzo Arcivescovile, Udine, Italy); ceiling frescoes (1731, now destroyed; Palazzo Archinto, Milan); The Adoration of the Christ Child (1732; St. Mark's, Venice); frescoes (1732; Cappella Colleoni, Bergamo, Italy); frescoes, chapel of S. Vittore (1737; S. Ambrogio, Milan); vault frescoes (c. 1739; church of the Gesuati, Venice); frescoes (1740; Palazzo Clerici, Milan); vault frescoes (174344, now destroyed; church of the Scalzi); frescoes (1743; Villa Cordellina, Montecchio Maggiore, Vicenza, Italy); Time Revealing Truth (frescoes, 174445; Palazzo Barbarigo, Venice); Allegory of Fortitude and Wisdom (frescoes, 174445; Ca' Rezzonico, Venice); Story of Anthony and Cleopatra (frescoes, before 1750s; Palazzo Labia, Venice); The Glorification of Francesco Barbaro (fresco, c. 1750; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City); Gifts Offered to Cleopatra (fresco, c. 1750; Necchi Collection, Pavia, Italy); Timocleia and the Thracian Commander (fresco, c. 1750; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.); frescoes, Kaisersaal (175052; Residenz, Wrzburg, Ger.); Olympus (1753; Residenz, Wrzburg); vault frescoes (175455; church of the Piet, Venice); frescoes for Villa Contarini, Mira (c. 1756; Muse Jacquemart-Andr, Paris); frescoes (1757; Villa Valmarana, Vicenza); Apotheosis of the Pisani Family (frescoes, 1762; Villa Pisani, Stra, Italy); Apotheosis of the Spanish Monarchy throne room (1764; Palacio Nacional, Madrid). Oil sketches. These exist in many museums, including the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston; National Gallery, London; Frick Collection, New York City; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tiepolo also produced a great number of drawings and etchings.