Apollo Standing in His Chariot
1696–1770
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush with pale and dark brown wash, over black chalk
Dimensions
9-1/2 x 9-9/16 in. (24.2 x 24.3 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1937
Accession Number
37.165.35
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold *Apollo Standing in His Chariot*, a dynamic drawing by Giovanni Battista Tolo (1696–1770), one of the supreme masters of Venetian Rococo art. Tiepolo, renowned for his sweeping frescoes adorning palaces and churches across Europe, captured mythological grandeur in works like this. Created during the 18th century, it evokes the sun god Apollo triumphantly posed in his celestial chariot—a symbol of light, music, and prophecy from classical antiquity—amidst swirling energy that hints at accompanying figures, including female nudes, chariots, and divine motion. Executed in pen and brown in...
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...