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INTRODUCTION
p
- ,,1
Venice during the eighteenth centuryb ecame an attenu- ?.
Ife?
ated reflection of its former self. The thousand-year-old
Republicr elinquishedi ts once-powerfulr ole on the politi-
cal stage of Europe, adopting a strategicallye xpedient
neutralityi n the face of French and Austriana ggression.
Lucrativef oreign trade dwindled,a nd rigid censorship
laws stifled the flow of progressivei deas from outside and
intellectual probityw ithin. Archaics ocial conventions and
symbolict rappingso f past glory were staunchlyu pheld, as
ceremonialp omp and pageantryd isguised the hollow core
of Venetian civic life. Theater-particularly the light,
improvisationalc ommedia dell'arte-music, masquerade,
and Carnivalf ed the relentless appetites of the local popu-
lace and of the swarmso f foreignv isitors alike for divert-
ing spectacles and frivolous pastimes of all sorts. The
once-splendidS erenissima( The Most SereneV enetian
Republic), as the city had long styled itself, was trans-
formedi nto an insular and backward-lookingn ever-never
land, impervious to the sweeping culturalf orces that else-
where led Europei nto the Age of Enlightenment.
It is an historical paradoxt hat the moribunds tate that
Venice had become producedo ne of the most admireda nd
vital schools of painting of the entire eighteenth century.
Its roll call included the view painters Canalettoa nd
Guardi;t he history paintersS ebastianoR icci, Giambattista
Pittoni, GiovanniA ntonio Pellegrini, andJ acopoA migoni;
the landscapep ainters MarcoR icci and Francesco
Zuccarelli;t he genre painter Pietro Longhi; and the por-
traitists RosalbaC arrieraa nd AlessandroL onghi. Tower- I * GIAMBATTISTA TIEPOLO
ing over all of his contemporariesw as the preeminent The Artist with Presumed Portrait of His Son Domenico,
1752-53. Detail of Apollo and the Four Continents from the grand
artistic genius of the day, GiambattistaT iepolo (I696- staircase of the Residenz, Wiirzburg (see fig. io)
I770), acclaimedn ot only in Venice but also famed and
sought after by powerfulp atronst hroughout Europe. Heir
to the pictorial pageantryo f Veronese and the golden age ingly in I743 that Domenico was already "following in
of sixteenth-centuryVenetianp ainting, Giambattista the footsteps of his father." Nearly two decades later
Tiepolo also signaled the culmination of the GrandM an- AlessandroL onghi (likewise the painter-sono f a famous
ner of Italian Baroquep ainting, the legacy of which- artist), in his Compendio delle vite de 'pittori veneziani
nobly posturing figures, expansive, operatic compositions, (Venice, 1760), confined his discussion of Domenico to
and soaring, light-drencheds kies-he elevated to brilliant the observation that he was "the most diligent imitator
new heights. Something of his genius was inherited by his of such a father." In a contract drawn up with the Scuola
son Domenico, whose own muse ushered him into the di San Giovanni Evangelista the thirty-three-year-old
pantheon of Venetian art. artist, his own reputation by then well established, is
It was the fate of Domenico Tiepolo (I72o7-I804)t o be called "Signor Domenico Tiepoletto, son of the cele-
the gifted son of a more prodigiouslyg ifted father (fig. i). brated professor." And Domenico himself proclaimed his
A dutiful offspring, he accepted this fate gracefully,t he filial devotion in an etching after one of Giambattista's
perpetual understudyc ontent to stand in the spotlight's paintings inscribed "Quas Pater pixit, Obsequissimo
reflected glory while occasionallyc ommandingi t on his animo Filius incidens"-What is painted by the father is
own. Domenico assumedt his role earlya ndw ith unwaver- etched by the devoted son. As this varied testimony from
ing loyalty.R eferringt o the sixteen-year-olda rtist, whose his lifetime indicates, Domenico's artistic identity was
paintings he would later collect, the worldlyV enetian then, as it remains today, defined principally through his
savanta nd dilettante FrancescoA lgarottin oted approv- paternal lineage.
*
*4
Domenico Tiepolo was endowedw ith a distinctive and genre-popular culture and everydayl ife. Evenw hen that
independent artistic personality,h owever, and his own subjectw as overtlyr eligious in content, the artist'sf ascina-
considerablea ccomplishmentsa s a painter, printmaker, tion with the quotidiana nd anecdotala nd his affinityf or
and particularlya s a draftsmanh ave been increasingly the poignant and touching aspects of the humanc ondition
appreciatedi n recent years. Not surprisingly,i t was in his were never entirelya bsent.T hese currentsf ound direct
autonomousw orks rathert han in large-scalep rojects on antecedentsi n certain of his father'sp aintings and draw-
which he collaboratedw ith GiambattistaT iepolo (fig. Io) ings, but what remainedo n the peripheryo f Giambattista's
that this personalityc ame into focus. Giambattistaw as artw as accordedc enter stage by Domenico.
foremost the purveyoro f a grand, theatrical style, ideally
suited to vast fresco decorations and monumental can-
vases populatedb y ancient heroes (fig. 2), mythological
deities, and imperious saints. Domenico, although he
could when called upon scale such Olympianh eights,
demonstratedi nstead a predilection for the private and
intimate; and his preferreds ubjectm atterw as drawnf rom
the less rarefieda nd more immediatelye ngaging realm of
2 * GIAMBATTISTA TIEPOLO
Meeting of Cleopatra and
Antony, mid-I74os. Fresco.
Palazzo Labia, Venice
*5*
THE EARLY YEARS OF enterprise existed in Venice in the eighteenth century,t hat
DOMENICO TIEPOLO of Domenico's Guardiu ncles, Gianantonio,F rancesco,
andt he nowv irtuallyu nknownN icol6; the genre painter
Pietro Longhi's son Alessandrol ikewise became an artist
Born in Venice on August 30, I727, Giovanni Domenico of renown. In this climate Domenico's careerp ath was
MariaA ntonio Tiepolo was baptized on the tenth of Sep- not unpredictable,b ut unlike his talentless cousin
tember in the parish church of San Ternita (Santissima Giacomo Guardi,w ho secured for himself only a meager
Trinita). The fifth child and eldest survivings on of footnote in the chronicles of Venetian art, he showed a
GiambattistaT iepolo and his wife, Cecilia Guardi,s ister naturala ptitude for the job.
of the painters Gianantonioa nd FrancescoG uardi, Domenico's artistic training in the Tiepolo workshop
Domenico was named for his maternala nd paternal grand- began in the earlyI 740s, a productivep eriod in which
fathers, Domenico Tiepolo and Domenico Guardi.I n join- Giambattistae xecuted importantf rescoes, altarpieces,
ing his father'sb usiness (as his younger brother Lorenzo ceiling paintings, and mythologicala nd allegorical can-
was later to do), he followedt he long-standingV enetian vases for distinguishedp atronsb oth Venetiana nd foreign.
traditiono f the familyworkshop,p racticedi n the fifteenth His initial activityc onsisted primarilyo f copying his
centuryb y the Bellini, the Vivarini, and the Lombardo father's drawingsa nd paintings. The Metropolitan'sT hree
familyo f sculptors and architects, and perpetuated AngelsA ppearingt o Abraham (fig. 3) is an earlyc opy by
into the sixteenth centuryb y Carpaccio,T intoretto, Domenico based on a sheet by Giambattista.I n I744 the
Veronese, and JacopoB assano, all of whom collaborated fledgling artist began to experimentw ith printmaking,
with offspring of widely divergenta bilities. Another family creating etchings after Giambattista'sd rawings.T hese
3 * The Three Angels Appearing to Abraham by
the Oaks of the Mamre. Pen and brown ink, brown
wash, over black chalk; I53/4Xio7/8 in. (40 x 27.6 cm).
Rogers Fund, 1937 (37.165.5)
- - A student exercise characterized by carefully
drawnc ontoursa ndm eticulouslya ppliedw ash,
-" I- / this highly finished sheet is Domenico's copy of a
a \
'VI drawing by Giambattista now in the Museo
Civico, Bassano.
*4J
I .
*^ .., c
~
,r . opposite, top
4 * Saint Matthew, ca. 1744. Etching, 8 7/8x 77/8 in.
(22.5 x 20 cm). Rogers Fund, 1922 (22.8i.28)
r .i~ 47
Domenico's image records one of Giambattista's
1'
monochrome frescoes in the Sagredo Chapel, San
Francesco dellaVigna, Venice. Executed ca. 1744,
_ J the chapel's decorative program included the
,- Four Evangelists in the pendentives.
*6*
early, somewhatt entative efforts by Domenico are,
like his copy drawings,s tudent exercises-products of his
continuing artistic education-rather than accomplished
works in their own right; but he quicklyp rogressedt o
reproducingG iambattista'sp aintings (fig. 4) and, soon,
his own compositions (figs. 6, 7). So rapidw as his mastery
of the medium that by the late i74os Domenico could
justly claim to rival in abilitya ny professionalp rintmaker
workingi n Venice (fig. 5).
In taking up etching, Domenico was most imme-
diatelyi nspiredb y GiambattistaT iepolo's efforts of the
earlyI 740s, particularlyt he series known as the Capricci,
as well as by the works of contemporarya nd slightly earlier
Venetianpeintres-graveurssu ch as Luca Carlevaris,M arco
Ricci, Canaletto,M ichele Marieschi, and Francesco
Fontebasso.E ighteenth-centuryV enice was home to a
flourishing print and illustrated-bookt rade, and the tech-
nically accomplished,p ainterlye tchings producedb y
these artists cateredt o this taste while proclaimingt heir
creators'g ifts in an increasinglyc ompetitive local market.
Canaletto'se tched Vedute( Views), published in all
likelihood in I744 (the year that Domenico took up print-
making),m ust have been of particulari nterest to the pre-
cocious young artist, for both their unsurpassedt echnical
virtuosity and their purpose of promotingt he reputation
of their maker.A s a recent entry in a crowdedf ield,
Domenico had no more instructive model to follow; and it
is therefore significantt hat a complete early set of the
Vedute,p resumablya cquired( given their rarity)a t the
time of publication, is recordedi n the Tiepolos' collection
of prints.
Domenico's activitya s a printmakeri s in fact more
closely allied to that of Canalettoa nd the ranks of profes-
sional etchers than to GiambattistaT iepolo's efforts in
this medium. Whereas Giambattistat ook up etching only
intermittentlya nd experimentally,c reating images not-
able for their fundamentals trangenessa nd poetic fantasy
(one of his two famous series, the Scherzi[ fig. 27], was not
even circulatedd uring his lifetime), Domenico devoted
much energyt o this pursuit over manyyears, producing
more than I80 prints.W ith few exceptions,t hey aren ot pri-
vate flights of fancyo r ruminationso n bizarreo r esoteric
themes but transcriptionsi nto the print medium of paint-
ings and drawings,h is own and those of Giambattista.
Domenico Tiepolo's emergence in the late I74os as
a printmakero f the first rank coincided with his earliest
independentw ork as a painter-a series of twenty-four
canvasesf or the Oratoryo f the Crucifixioni n San Polo,
Venice. Commissionedi n I747 and completed two years
later, this cycle includes a Via Crucis( Stations of the
5 * The Virgin Appearing to Saint Simon Stock, I749. Etching, Cross),i mages inspired by a devotional cult, first promul-
2313/16 X I5 9/16 in. (60.4 x 39.5 cm). Rogers Fund, 1922 (22.81.85) gated in the late seventeenth century, that emphasizedt he
This masterful etching reproduces Giambattista's I740 ceiling worshiper'ss pirituali dentificationw ith the sufferingo f
fresco in the Scuola dei Carmini, Venice. Christo n the roadt o Calvary( fig. 6). (In 1749 Domenico
published a series of etchings of the fourteen scenes of the
Via Crucisp receded by a dedication page and a title page
[see figs. 7-9]; a full set is in the Museum'sc ollection.)
*;{*f~~~~~~~~ ^^^The figure types are patently derived from Giambattista's,
5F ~~~~ ^i~\~~~ x~ ~as are certain landscapee lements and architecturald etails.
Indeed, at the time of their unveiling it was rumoredt hat
Domenico's paintings had been reworkedb y his father,
.' ,~ - so close at first glance are they in style and spirit to
Giambattista'sr eligious narratives.B ut certain idiosyn-
^
f^^ j R '_ ^<L~t c rasji es typical of the son characterizet his earlya mbitious
effort, notablyt he rathers tifflyp osed figures,t heir lack of
B^B^R^?-^^ ^B *'.?;k fjl _volume, and a preferencef or planarc ompositionst hat com-
^'^^^b&v,v^^ ^5K_ ^^^51 a ~ pensatesf or an inabilityt o cast formsc onvincinglyi n space.
Whateverl imitations they reveal, the San Polo can-
vases are nonetheless remarkablya ccomplishedf or a
painter in his earlyt wenties. Domenico's distinct artistic
personalityh as surfacedi n the crowdso f Orientals and
6 * Via Crucis, Station IV.
The Meeting of Christ
and His Most Holy Mother,
I747-49. Oil on canvas.
Oratoryo f the Crucifixion,
San Polo, Venice
7 * Via Crucis, Station IV.
The Meeting of Christ and
His Most Holy Mother,I 749. i '
Etching, 8 %x 6 5/16i n. (2I.9
x I7.6 cm). Rogers Fund,
1922 (22..81.6)
Muscular seminude figures . i
seen from behind, such as :
that in this print and in the
related canvas, were favorite .?.. i,
motifs of Giambattista . .
Tiepolo (see fig. 27)., "
i. ir
rl?i ?,
IcU ii ?i
t?
? ? rr.t .-.
*8*
8 * Detail of Via Crucis,
4 iyctc ~?f' Station X. Christ Stripped
i L,r .cl Y~~~~~~~l of His Clothes and Given Bile
to Drink, I749. Etching.
Rogers Fund, 1922
(22.8i.I2)
Several of Domenico's spec-
tators, two of whom here
look out and confront the
viewer, wear contemporary
i8th-century dress. Such
anachronistic details
heighten the immediacy of
the Via Crucis scenes.
other exotic types (ubiquitous stock characters appropri- . . .
ated from Giambattista'sf igural staffageb ut accordeda
greater, almost intrusive prominence by his son) whose
purpose in the narrativei s obscure (fig. 9). Even more typ-
ical of Domenico are the numerousw itnesses and by-
standerss ummonedf rom everydayl ife, their forceful
presence impartinga decidedlya nd even disconcertingly
contemporaryn ote to the events of the Passion (fig. 8).
This apparentd isregardo n Domenico's part for histori-
cally correct details, although an establishedt raditioni n
Venetian art, met with immediate criticism:W riting of the
Via Crucisi n I749, one detractorr emarkedd isapprovingly
that "all the figuresw ere wearing differentc ostumes-
some Spanish, some Slav and some are just caricatures.
And people say that in those dayst hat sort of person was
not found and that he has painted them in that way only
out of personalw him."
Consideredi n a more favorablel ight, Domenico's
insertion of figures from his own time who interactw ith
the viewer invests these compositions with a novel direct-
ness and immediacyt hat heighten their affecting emo-
tional content and dramatici mpact. This desire to engage
the viewer, through pathos or through humor, is a hall-
marko f his art from the beginning of his careert o the end
and the most salient feature distinguishing Domenico's 9 * Via Crucis, Station III. Christ Falls under the Cross the
approacht o his subjectf rom that of Giambattista First Time, 1749. Etching, 8 % x 615A6i n. (21.9 x 17.6 cm).
Tiepolo, whose pictorial pageants depict an inaccessible, Rogers Fund, I922 (22.81.5)
superhumanw orld.
*9*
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