Allegory of the Planets and Continents
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
73 x 54 7/8 in. (185.4 x 139.4 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1977
Accession Number
1977.1.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, a virtuoso of the Venetian Rococo style, created *Allegory of the Planets and Continents* in 1752 as a grand oil-on-canvas painting (73 x 54 7/8 in.). This exuberant work exemplifies Tiepolo's mastery of illusionistic decoration, originally designed as an overdoor for the opulent Ca’ Rezzonico palace in Venice. Rococo art, with its playful elegance and theatrical flair, reached new heights in Tiepolo's hands, blending mythological grandeur with dynamic movement to celebrate cosmic and earthly harmony during Europe's Age of Enlightenment. The composition bursts with ...
About the Artist
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo · 1696–1770
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770) stands as the greatest decorative painter of eighteenth-century Europe, a Venetian master whose luminous frescoes and dynamic compositions defined the Rococo era's aesthetic zenith. Born in Venice on March 5, 1696, to a modest shipping merchant family, Tiepolo's extraordinary talent transcended his humble origins to establish him as the most sought-after artis...