The Discovery of the Tomb of Punchinello, from the Scherzi
ca. 1743–50
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Plate: 9 1/8 x 7 3/16 in. (23.1 x 18.2 cm) Sheet: 13 9/16 x 9 5/16 in. (34.4 x 23.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, Dodge and Pfeiffer Funds, and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest; and Gift of Bertina Suida Manning and Robert L. Manning, 1976
Accession Number
1976.537(17)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s etching *The Discovery of the Tomb of Punchinello* belongs to his celebrated *Scherzi di Fantasia* series, created around 1743–50. A leading figure of the Venetian Rococo, Tiepolo used the etching medium’s fine lines and delicate tonal contrasts to conjure dreamlike scenes that blend whimsy with subtle unease. The print depicts figures gathered around the burial site of Punchinello—the hunchbacked clown of commedia dell’arte—while serpents coil nearby, suggesting themes of mortality, transformation, and theatrical illusion. In the *Scherzi*, Tiepolo explored fantas...
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...