Lot Essay
From the so-called Large Biblical Series, executed by Domenico on his return to Venice from Spain in 1770. James Byam Shaw estimated that Domenico may have produced as many as 250 of these impressive, pictorially composed subjects which he described as 'album drawings', intended not as studies for a painting or etching but as works of art in their own right, J. Byam Shaw, The Drawings of Domenico Tiepolo, London, 1962, pp. 36-7.
The largest single group, 138 sheets, is preserved in a folio volume, known as Recueil Fayet, in the Cabinet des Dessins, Louvre (R.F. 1713bis). Bequeathed to the Louvre in 1889, the drawings had been acquired by M. Fayet in Venice in 1833. Another large group was in the collection of Roger Cormier in Tours and sold at auction on 30 April 1921. Cormier sheets were sold in these Rooms, 9 January 1991, lot 26 and Christie's, London, 6 July 1993, lot 93a, illustrated.
The largest single group, 138 sheets, is preserved in a folio volume, known as Recueil Fayet, in the Cabinet des Dessins, Louvre (R.F. 1713bis). Bequeathed to the Louvre in 1889, the drawings had been acquired by M. Fayet in Venice in 1833. Another large group was in the collection of Roger Cormier in Tours and sold at auction on 30 April 1921. Cormier sheets were sold in these Rooms, 9 January 1991, lot 26 and Christie's, London, 6 July 1993, lot 93a, illustrated.