Woman kneeling in front of Magicians and other Figures, from the Scherzi
ca. 1740
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Plate: 9 x 6 11/16 in. (22.9 x 17 cm) Sheet: 9 3/8 x 7 in. (23.8 x 17.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1960
Accession Number
60.584.13
Tags
Art Historical Context
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo created this etching around 1740 as part of his celebrated *Scherzi di Fantasia* series, a group of imaginative prints that blend elements of antiquity, magic, and theater. Tiepolo, one of the leading Venetian artists of the Rococo period, was renowned for his luminous frescoes and lively compositions; in these etchings he turned to more mysterious subjects, populating dreamlike scenes with philosophers, sorcerers, and exotic figures. The image shows a woman kneeling before a group of robed men who appear to be magicians or sages, surrounded by other onlookers and ob...
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...