Born in 1696 in Venice, Tiepolo’s artistic training began in 1710 under the painter Gregorio Lazzarini. Tiepolo’s early works, such as The Sacrifice of Isaac (1716), demonstrated his dramatic use of chiaroscuro and highlights the initial influence of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta's paintings on the artist's style.
Though Tiepolo worked across a range of mediums, he became best-known for his large, light-filled frescoes. His contemporaries described him as ‘Veronese reborn’, referring to the 16th century Renaissance painter Paolo Veronese, with the two artists having a shared interest in the theatrical and a luminous use of colour.
Yet Tiepolo's frescos differed from Veronese in their sense of lightness and use of airy space, with figures often soaring overhead. Tiepolo's works used grand mythological and historical narratives to explore ideas of power and prosperity, such as the Ca’ Dolfin in Venice (c. 1726–1729), which depicted battles and triumphs from Ancient Rome.
Though Tiepolo’s work had mostly been secular up until this point, from the late 1730s to the late 1740s, he produced a series of religious paintings for Venetian churches. During this period, he also created frescoes at the Palazzo Labia of The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra and The Banquet of Antony and Cleopatra — a story which Tiepolo returned to several times in his work.
The artist stepped onto the world stage when he was invited to decorate the residence of the Prince-Bishop in Würzburg in 1750. After later accepting a royal commission from Charles III of Spain, the artist moved to Spain in 1762, where he spent his final years.
Alongside Tiepolo’s work in oil painting, he was a talented draughtsman. His drawings ranged from rapid pen-and-ink sketches to highly finished compositional studies, and the artist often used red chalk on blue paper to make preparatory studies for his paintings. He was also a printmaker, with his series of etchings Scherzidi Fantasia and Vari Capricci inspiring other great printmakers including Francisco Goya.
Tiepolo died in 1770, but many of his colourful frescoes can still be seen today on the ceilings and walls of the palaces and villas they were painted on. Works by the artist are also held in major collections worldwide, including the National Gallery in London, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre in Paris.
Giovanni Battista Gaulli, il Baciccio (Genoa 1639-1709 Rome)
Christ in Glory, in a painted oval