The Virgin and Child Adored by Monks and Others
ca. 1730–35
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brown wash, over black chalk on white paper
Dimensions
16 3/8 x 11 1/4 in. (41.6 x 28.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.439
Tags
Art Historical Context
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, master of the Venetian Rococo style, created *The Virgin and Child Ad by Monks and Others around 1730–. This exquisite drawing, executed in pen and brown ink with brown wash over black chalk on paper (16 3/8 x 11 1/4 in.), exemplifies Tiepolo's virtuosic preparatory sketches. During this period, he was gaining fame for his grand frescoes in palaces and churches, blending dramatic movement, luminous effects, and theatrical grandeur in the Rococo tradition, which emphasized elegance and emotion over classical restraint. The composition centers on the tender Madonna an...
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...