| Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista (1696-1770) was an Italian Rococo painter, the last of the great Venetian ones. Tiepolo excelled in fresco decorations of church and palace interiors. His work was notable for its inventiveness, draftsmanship, and breathtaking color. |  |
Tiepolo was born in Venice, the sixth and last child of Domenico Tiepolo, a merchant-ship captain. He trained in the workshop of Gregorio Lazzarini, and received his first major commission at the age of 19. His work was strongly influenced by the work of Paolo Veronese. Tiepolo painted frescos in Milan and other Italian cities, and from 1750 to 1753 he decorated the archbishop's palace in Würzburg, Bavaria. Upon returning to Venice he was named the first director of the painting academy there. In 1761 he accepted the offer of Charles III of Spain to execute the ceiling decoration for the throne room, representing the "Apotheosis of Spain" in the Royal Palace in Madrid. By combining the three dimensional effects of roman Baroque artists with the illusionist and colorist tradition of Venetian painting, Tiepolo brought fresco painting and Venetian art to its full maturity. He broke the boundaries between real and imaginary space and suffused every corner of his compositions with silvery daylight, which is in total contrast to the heavy chiaroscuro effects of his Baroque precursors. Tiepolo died in 1770, while decorating the walls of a church in Madrid. Many of his oils are to be found in European and American museums. He also did a large number of etchings and many sketches and drawings for collectors of his time. |
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|  | | "The Banquet of Cleopatra" (1743-44) Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. | | |
|  |  | "The Death of Hyacinth" (1752) Oil on canvas. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid, USA. | | |
|  | | "Apotheosis of Spain" (1762-66) Fresco. Royal Palace, Madrid, Spain. | | |
|  | | "Allegory of the Planets and Continents" (1752) Fresco. | | |
|  | | "The Flight to Egypt" Oil on canvas, 68 × 101 cm - 26.8 × 39.8 in. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Nederlands. | | |
|  | | "The Apotheosis of Saint Roch" Oil on canvas, 41 x 34 cm - 16 1/8 in. x 13 3/8 in. Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. |
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