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Lot Essay
This bearded man, drawn with quick and vivid pen strokes and economically applied wash, appears in the same position in a slightly smaller red chalk and wash drawing in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge (inv. 1946.52; B. Aikema, Tiepolo and his Circle. Drawings in American Collections, exhib. cat., New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, 1997, no. 110, ill., p. 196, pl. 3). George Knox suggested that the Fogg drawing was etched by Tiepolo's son Domenico for the series of sixty etchings titled Raccolta di teste, published in 1773-4. Knox argued that the Fogg sheet was executed shortly before Giambattista's departure for Madrid in 1762 (Tiepolo. A Bicentenary Exhibition, exhib. cat., Cambridge, Fogg Art Museum, 1970, no. 94). Bernard Aikema, however, has compared the Fogg drawing with a group of painted heads and has proposed a date in Giambattista's Venetian period between the family's return from Würzburg in 1753 and their departure to Spain in 1762 (Aikema, op. cit., no. 110). A dating of circa 1760 could also possibly apply to the present drawing, which is stylistically close to other drawings of the subject and representations of The Holy Family (Knox, op. cit., no. 94).
Oriental heads were a popular subject in 18th-century art, having been made popular by 17th-century artists like Rembrandt and Castiglione, who popularized the theme through their prints. The Tiepolos were well aware of these, and Domenico is known to have owned prints by both these artists (J. Byam Shaw, The Drawings of Domencio Tiepolo, London, 1962, p. 18, note 8).
The quick sketches on the verso of this sheet might have been intended for a body of a dead Christ in a Lamentation or a Deposition, while the sketches at the top of the sheet might represent crucified bodies. A Deposition given to Giambattista by Morassi and attributed to the artist by Gemin and Pedrocco is in the National Gallery, London (inv. 1333; M. Gemin and F. Pedrocco, Giambattista Tiepolo. I dipinti. Opera Completa, Venice, 1993, p. 506, no. 21, ill). Interestingly, just to the right of Christ's body stands an oriental whose head is rather similar to that of the man shown on the recto of this sheet.
Oriental heads were a popular subject in 18th-century art, having been made popular by 17th-century artists like Rembrandt and Castiglione, who popularized the theme through their prints. The Tiepolos were well aware of these, and Domenico is known to have owned prints by both these artists (J. Byam Shaw, The Drawings of Domencio Tiepolo, London, 1962, p. 18, note 8).
The quick sketches on the verso of this sheet might have been intended for a body of a dead Christ in a Lamentation or a Deposition, while the sketches at the top of the sheet might represent crucified bodies. A Deposition given to Giambattista by Morassi and attributed to the artist by Gemin and Pedrocco is in the National Gallery, London (inv. 1333; M. Gemin and F. Pedrocco, Giambattista Tiepolo. I dipinti. Opera Completa, Venice, 1993, p. 506, no. 21, ill). Interestingly, just to the right of Christ's body stands an oriental whose head is rather similar to that of the man shown on the recto of this sheet.