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A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick
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The Pictorial Wit of Domenico Tiepolo
in 2 volumes
(Volume I of II)
by
Sophie Bostock
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the
Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Art History
UniversityofWarwick, Department of Art History
September2009
ii
ThePictorial Witof DomenicoTiepolo
Contents
Acknowledgements v
Abstract viii
List of Illustrations ix
Chapter I: Methodological Problems andHistoriographyof
Divertimentoper li Regazzi 1
Formal Qualities oftheDivertimento andSummaryoftheSubject Matter 2
Subsequent HistoryoftheDrawings 4
TheChronologyofDivertimentoper li Regazzi 5
Historiographyand LiteratureReview 8
Methodological Problems oftheDivertimento 18
WiderMusingontheBroaderThemes oftheDivertimento 24
Chapter II: ‘Gio. Batta., andDomenico: Father & SonTiepolo.
Excellent Painters’ 38
SettingtheScene: Eighteenth-CenturyVenice 42
GiambattistaTiepoloandtheBuildingofanArtisticDynasty 45
TheTiepoloFamily’s Social andCultural Networks 61
DomenicoTiepolo: DiligentissimoImitatored’unTantoPadre 66
BirthandEarlyLife 66
PublicWork: 1770-1804 72
Private Life: 1770-1804 73
Chapter III: IntroducingPulcinella 81
TheCommediadell’Arte 84
An IntroductiontoPulcinella,his Origins and aPanoramaofhis Life 97
Pulcinellaamongst theCommediadell’ArteCast 100
iii
Pulcinellaas Street Entertainer,Carnival Mask in theBurattini
andAssistant toCharlatans 103
AVisual TraditionofDepictingPulcinella 107
Chapter IV: Motifs, Visual andTextual Sources in Divertimentoper li Regazzi 118
RepetitionofMotifs andtheir IconographicSignificancein
Divertimentoper li Regazzi 121
Visual andTextual Sources in Divertimentoper li Regazzi 126
Quotations from theWorkofGiambattistaTiepolo 126
Quotations from theWorkofPietro Longhi 128
Quotations from theWorkofVenetianPainters from theFifteenth
andSixteenthCenturies 129
Quotations from OtherArtists 130
Quotations from Textual Sources 132
TheFunctionof Divertimentoper li Regazzi 134
ChapterV: OnthePlayful Qualities ofDivertimentoper li Regazzi 139
ChapterVI: OldAgeandDeath 164
APortrait oftheArtist as anOldMan 164
DeathinVenice 188
Conclusion 201
Divertimentoper li Regazzi: ACatalogueofWorks 205
Introduction 205
UsingtheCatalogueof Works 206
Titles 206
Categories UsedinCataloguingtheDrawings 206
LocationofDrawings 207
iv
References 207
Exhibitions 207
Exhibitions Cited 208
CatalogueRaisonné 211
VolumeII
Appendices
Appendix I: UpdatedConcordanceShowingScholars’ 315
Chronological Interpretations ofDivertimentoper li Regazzi
Appendix II: Thumbnail reproductions ofDivertimentoper li 318
Regazzi ShowingtheChronological Interpretations oftheseries.
Appendix III: Giudici del Proprio: Busta123,150,Transcription 334
Appendix IV: TiepoloFamilyTrees:
(a) GBTiepolo–Parents andSiblings 366
(b) GBTiepolo–Wifeand Children 367
(c) GDTiepolo–Wifeand Family 368
Appendix V: First Academicians oftheVenetian Academyof1756 369
Appendix VI: Repeated Motifs in Divertimentoper li Regazzi 370
Illustrations 372
Bibliography 573
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There aremanyinstitutions andpeople Iwouldliketoacknowledgefortheir
considerablehelpduringthecourseof writingmythesis. Iam grateful toa numberof
organisations andindividuals: toTheGladys KriebleDelmas Foundation,forfunding
aresearchtriptoVenice in2006,toBernhardRöschat theResidenz,Würzburg, who
invitedmetoclimbthescaffoldingintheKaisersäal,duringaUNESCO-funded
restorationproject in2008; this enabledmetoexaminemorecloselytheworkof
GiambattistaandDomenicoTiepolothan Ihad everimaginedpossible. Ithank
ProfessorNigel Llewellyn,nowHeadofResearch at theTate,forsparingthetimeto
discuss withmehis ideas ontheworkofTiepoloandimprovisatorymusical form. I
wouldalso liketothankAnne-EmmanuellePiton, Documentaliste(XVIIe-XVIIIe) at
theMuséedes Beaux-Arts, Paris, forundertakingsomeresearchonmybehalf
concerningthe exhibitionofDivertimentoper li Regazzi in1921.Thanks also to
Kristel Smentek,Assistant Professorat theMassachusetts InstituteofTechnology,for
sharingherfascinatinginsights intohoweighteenth-centuryconnoisseurs ‘looked’at
images andfor acomplimentarycopyofher groundbreakingarticleonPierre-Jean
Mariette. Iwouldliketo thankpaperhistorianTomas StohroftheUniversidadSimon
Bolivar,Venezuela,forsharinghis extensiveknowledgeofeighteenth-century
watermarks withme. Iwouldalso liketothankGianluigi Passuello, Librarianat the
Goldoni Museum Library(formerlyLibrarian at thePalazzoMocenigo),forhelping
metosourceinformationonfabrics. Iam enormouslygrateful toMickyWhite,
Independent Scholarand Researcher at theOspedaledellaPietà,Venice,for drawing
myattentiontoahitherto unpublishedarchival document onGiambattistaTiepolo.
More generally, Iwould particularlyliketothank thestaffat TheStateArchives of
Venice,TheHistorical ArchiveofthePatriarchate ofVenice, TheMarciana Library,
vi
TheCorrerMuseum Library,The British Library, TheWarburgInstitute Libraryand
theBibliothèqueNationaledeParis fortheir considerablehelp.
Aboveall, IwouldliketothankmysupervisorVictoriaAverywhohas been
generous withhertime,hermanyVenetiancontacts, andforspendinglonghours with
meintheVenetianState Archives. Victoriabravely, and without hesitation,tookme
andmyproject onwhenthegoinggot tough,and Icouldnot havecomethis far
without her.WithintheDepartment of Art Historyat Warwick, Ialso thankProfessor
Michael Rosenthal andDrRosemarieDias fortheirkindencouragement of mywork
when Ifirst presentedit totheDepartment at theannual GraduateConferencein
2008.
Mythesis has straddledtwoinstitutions:mywork beganat TheSchool of
WorldArt Studies andMuseologyat Universityof East Anglia (UEA). Iwould
thereforeliketothankMargit Thøfner andJohnOnians –Margit’s comments onmy
workinits embryonicstages wereencouragingandthought-provoking,and Johnwas
always readytoofferadviceonaspects ofmywork,andit was withhim that Ifirst
learnedso much about theart and cultureofVenice. Iwouldalso liketothankOliver
Logan,nowretired,from theDepartment ofHistoryat UEA,foradvisingmeon
historical matters andhis helpwiththeinterpretationofDomenicoTiepolo’s Last
Will andTestament.Additionally, IwouldliketothankMarilisaCastura andMarco
Musillo(UEAalumni)fortheirassistanceinthetranslationandinterpretationof
Italiantexts.
IowemuchtoProfessor AdelheidGealt andProfessorGeorge Knox; their
seminal workonDomenicoTiepolohas beenaninspirationtome,andtheyhave
generouslyandunstintinglysharedtheirconsiderableexperienceofandinsights into
Domenico’s work withme,patientlyrespondingtomymanyqueries over the
durationofthis project. It was anhonourtobeinvitedtothepreviewandopeningof
vii
theirexhibition DomenicoTiepolo:ANew Testament at TheFrickCollectioninNew
YorkinOctober2006, andtobeabletotalkwiththem at that time. Iam indebtedto
Francis Ford, whokindlyinvitedmetoWyndham Place,thehomeofhis latefather,
SirBrinsleyFord,forshowingme, andtalkingwithmeabout,his father’s much-
lovedcollectionofPulcinelladrawings from the Divertimento. Inaddition, Iwould
liketothankCatherine Whistler,SeniorAssistant KeeperofWesternArt at the
AshmoleanMuseum,whohas writtenextensivelyonbothGiambattistaand
DomenicoTiepolo,for respondingtomyquestions ontheTiepolos overthe years.
Ithankmyfriends fortheirsupport,encouragement,tolerance and good-
humour–inparticular,ChristinaBradstreet, Felizitas Ringham,GraemeSmart,Claire
Walsh, BethWilliamson,AmeliaYeates. Aspecial mentionmust gotoGraemeSmart
not onlyforhis friendshipoverthe years but forproof-readingmythesis forme.
Finally, IthankDouglas Bostockforhis unfailingsupport andconsiderable
understandingthroughthehighs andlows ofthis project.This is for youall, with
gratitude.
viii
Declaration of Originality
Ideclarethatthisworkpresentedinthisthesisis,tothebestofmyknowledgeandbelief,
originalandmyown,exceptasacknowledgedinthetext.
Signed_________________________________________________
SophieBostock
Dated__________________________________________________
ix
Abstract
This thesis takes anewapproachtoDomenico Tiepolo’s (1727-1804), Divertimento
Per li Regazzi (c.1795-1804),it is arguablytheartists most enigmaticgraphicwork,
whichfeatures thecommediadell’artecharacterPulcinella.Thedrawings have
hithertobeensubject torigorous connoisseurial analysis. Indeed,inhis introductionto
tenofthedrawings ina catalogueofItalianEighteenth-CenturyDrawings inThe
Robert LehmanCollectionat theMetropolitanMuseum ofArt,NewYork, James
Byam Shawstates that this particularseries ofdrawings has nowbecomesofamous
‘that it is hardlynecessarytoaddtotheliterature oftheseries.’1 Inmyopinionit
wouldbea great pityif futuregenerations ofscholars werediscouragedbythis
remark,for Ibelievethe drawings still havemuch to‘tell’thecontemporaryart
historianandwouldfurtherbenefit from increasinglyinterpretativereadings.
Previously,scholars have regardedDomenicoTiepoloas animitatorofhis
father,GiambattistaTiepolo(1696-1770),andinterpretedthe re-appropriationof
motifs intheDivertimento as signs ofoldageand fatigue. Isuggest,onthe contrary,
that inthis series ofdrawings inparticular,Domenicowas aninnovator.
This project carves out newterritories withinthestudyoftheseries inthat it
focuses ontheplayful natureofthedrawings, and howthesuitecanbeunderstoodin
relationtocontemporarytheoryconcerninggames andplay,andludic
musical/improvisatoryforms. Additionally,thedrawings arediscussedas a case
historyinanowpopular emergingdialecticonthe lateworks of agedartists: here I
considerhowthesedrawings, often funny,poignant,sensitiveanddelicate reveal how
theelderlypainter reconciles himselfnot onlytothepassingofhis ownlifeandthe
extinctionofhis familylinebut toanentirepolitical,cultural andvisual tradition.
1JamesByamShawandGeorgeKnox,TheRobertLehmanCollectionVI:ItalianEighteenth-Century
Drawings,(NewYorkandPrinceton:TheMetropolitanMuseumofArtNewYorkinassociationwith
PrincetonUniversityPress,Princeton,1987),p.203.