Caricature of a Man in a Voluminous Cloak, Carrying a Walking Stick, Seen from Behind
1760 (?)
Medium
Pen and dark brown ink, brown wash
Dimensions
7 5/16 x 4 13/16 in. (18.5 x 12.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.451
Tags
Art Historical Context
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, virtuoso of Venetian Rococo, masterminded grand frescoes across Europe, from palaces in Würzburg to Madrid's royal residences. Yet this intimate caricature from around 1760 reveals his playful side. Titled *Caricature of a in a Voluminous Clo, Carrying a Walking Stick Seen from Behind*, it a rotund figure striding away, his enormous cloak billowing comically like a sail, walking stick in hand—a witty exaggeration of everyday eccentricity. Executed in pen and dark brown ink with brown wash on a modest 7 5/16 x 4 13/16 inches (18.5 x 12.2 cm) sheet, the work showcases...
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...