Illustration for a Book: Reception of a Bishop Leading an Army at a City Gate
1696–1770
Medium
Black chalk. Horizontal and vertical centering lines ruled in faint black chalk
Dimensions
3-1/8 x 6-1/4 in. (8.0 x 15.8 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
Accession Number
59.600.204
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 18th-century Venice with Giovanni Battista Tiep's *Illustration for a Book: Reception a Bishop Leading an Army a City Gate*. This drawing, executed in black chalk on a modest 3-1/8 x 6-1/4 inch sheet, captures a grand procession: a bishop, likely astride a horse, arrives triumphantly at a city gate with his army in tow. The horizontal format and faint ruled centering lines reveal Tiepolo's meticulous preparation for book illustration, ensuring precise transfer to print. Tiepolo (1696–1770), a leading Rococo master, was renowned for his sweeping frescoes adorning...
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...