Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Born – Venice, Italy 1696
Died – Madrid, Spain 1770
Tiepolo was the sparkling star of eighteenth-century decorative painting in Italy. He was a virtuoso master of the fresco medium, sought-after not only in Italy but also in Germany and Spain. Tiepolo brought imagination and Baroque grandeur to the frivolous Rococo spirit and infused it with sound pictorial composure, gleaned from his knowledge of Rubens, Rembrandt and Dürer. The influence of the Venetian master Veronese and Tinoretto is also prevalent in the eloquence and drama with which Tiepolo imbues his large-scale compositions. As a colourist, Tiepolo is unsurpassed, progressing from the rather dark tonality of his early works to his characteristically sunny palette from the early 1730s. At the peak of his career, in 1750, Tiepolo was commissioned to decorate the Würzburg Palace, the Prince Archbishop’s residence. America is one of Tiepolo’s allegorical interpretations of the four continents, decorating the grand staircase of the palace. This exotic scheme is a tour-de-force, full of vigour and creative originality and is considered the masterpiece of Tiepolo’s maturity. In the last years of his life the rising popularity of Neo-Classicism caused the decline of Tiepolo’s career but did not affect its lasting impact.
Masterpieces:
- Cleopatra’s Banquet
- Marriage of Frederick Barbarossa and Beatrice of Burgundy
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Books About giovanni battista tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Denise Ankele
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The Drawings of Tiepolo (Master draughtsman series)
Arthur Millier
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Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770) und sein Atelier: Zeichnungen und Radierungen im Berliner Kupferstichkabinett (Bilderheft der Staatlichen Museen ... Kulturbesitz) (German Edition)
Hein-Th Schulze Altcappenberg
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