Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, was an 18th century Italian painter and printmaker of the Venetian school during the late baroque era. He was the son of the famous artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and elder brother of Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo.
Born in 1727, in his early life, he acted as chief assistant to his famous father; although by the age of twenty, he was producing work for his own commissions. From 1762–70, they worked in Madrid, at the palace of Charles III.
His painting style really developed, after the death of his father in 1770; at which time he returned to Venice and worked there, as well as in Genoa and Padua.
Though keeping the decorative influence of his father, his painting moved from its spatial emphasis and began to take a more realistic direction. His portraits and scenes of life in Venice, are characterised by movement, colour and deliberate composition.
Domenico, also produced drawings, using ink and wash and was a significant printmaker, produced from etching plates. He produced 104 sketches of Punchinello (later to become Punch), the standard character of the commedia dell’arte. The same protagonist featured in other paintings and in a series of frescoes; for his villa di Zianigo, near Mirano.
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo.
(b. 30th August, 1727 – d. 3rd March, 1804)
L. Self-Portrait. (ca. 1775). Print from Etching
R. Detail showing his son from the painting: “The Apotheosis Of The Prince Bishop“. by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo – LIFE
Domenico was born in Venice on the 30th August 30, 1727; the son of artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and elder brother to Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo.
He studied under his father and by the age of 13 was the his chief assistant. He was one of the many assistants, including his brother Lorenzo, who transferred the designs of his father (often executed in oil sketches).
Left. The artist’s family, a rare portrait, unfinished.
By the age of 20, he was producing his own commissioned work.
He assisted his father in Würzburg during 1751-3, decorating the famous stairwell fresco in Vicenza, at the “Villa Valmarana Ai Nani”, in 1757.
From 1762–70, they worked in Madrid at the palace of Charles III. (Please see my post on his father, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo; link at bottom).
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo. “Rebecca at the Well” (1751)
WORKS
His painting style developed after the death of his father in 1770, at which time he returned to Venice and worked there, as well as in Genoa and Padua.
His painting, though keeping the decorative influence of his father; moved from its spatial emphasis and began to take a more realistic direction.
His portraits and scenes of life in Venice, are characterised by movement, colour and deliberate composition.
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
L. “Portrait of a Lady“.
R. “Portrait of a Scholar“
His work further developed from the religious and mythological subjects of his father; to a more secular style. He produced 104 sketches of Punchinello, the standard character of the commedia dell’arte (which would later become Punch in Punch and Judy); a physically deformed clown. These were created as ‘Entertainments for the Children’ and attempted to poke fun at the pretensions and behaviour of the viewer.
The same protagonist featured in other paintings, as well a series of frescos (1759-1797), in his villa di Zianigo, near Mirano. These frescoes were detached and lined up for resale in France. Fortunately, the Minister of Public Education at the time; blocked the export and acquired them for the city of Venice.
L. “Pulcinella on Holiday“
R. “The Departure of the Gondola“. (mid-1760’s)
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
Since 1936, they have been on display, in a near replica of the original arrangement, in the Ca Rezzonico Museum, on the Grand Canal. The frescoes have undergone recent restoration.
The scenes depict often cryptic events, part genre and part epic-farce, of crowds of Pulcinellos at play and work; as well as a carnival scene. The themes of the genre and humour, are strikingly different from the grand epic apotheoses, painted by his father.
DRAWINGS AND PRINTS FROM ETCHINGS
Many of Domenico’s works, are drawings with ink and wash and he was a fine draftsman; although weaker than his father.
His “St. Ambrose Addressing the Young St. Augustine” sketch (Left) is typical of the commissions he would receive. St. Ambrose, with the crozier and mitre, addresses and gives religious instruction to the beardless Saint Augustine.
The composition has the pomp and grandiosity of his father’s work, set out as if part of a theatrical display. However, he took 18th-century Venice, as the setting for this 4th-century act; drawing on his experience of the city and his many works depicting life in it.
Domenico was also a significant printmaker in etching, often reproducing his own or his father’s paintings. But his original compositions include a series of twenty-four illustrations of the “Idee Pittoresche sulla Fuga in Egitto” (Picturesque Scenes from the Flight into Egypt) and one of the fourteen “Stations of the Cross”.
Above. Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo. From the set: “Picturesque Scenes from the Flight into Egypt“
“The Flight: Joseph at right, Mary and Angel at left” (1750-53)
COLLECTIONS
- The Prado Museum
- The Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia)
- The Blanton Museum of Art (University of Texas, Austin)
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- The Finnish National Gallery
- The Honolulu Museum of Art
- The Indiana University Art Museum
- Kunst Indeks Danmark
- The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
- The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen
- The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg, the Musée du Louvre (Paris)
- Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Madrid)
- Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (Barcelona)
- The National Gallery, London
- The National Museums and Galleries of Wales
- The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana (Milan), Pinacoteca di Brera (Milan)
- The Portland Art Museum
- The Lázaro Galdiano Museum (Madrid)
- The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
- The Seattle Art Museum
- The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- The Victoria and Albert Museum
- The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (Madrid)
- The Wadsworth Atheneum
LINKS
Please see my introductory post, on the Second Golden Age of Art: together with its most important artists:
Foreign Artists working in Venice
Turner in Venice Whistler in Venice
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo