Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista (1696-1770) - 1752 The Death of Hyacinth (Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid)
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo was a Venetian painter and printmaker. He was prolific, and worked not only in the region of Venice but also in Germany and Spain. He was initially a pupil of Gregorio Lazzarini, but the influences from elder contemporaries such as Sebastiano Ricci and Giovanni Battista Piazzetta are stronger in his work. At 19 years of age, Tiepolo completed his first major commission, the Sacrifice of Isaac (now in the Accademia). He left Lazzarini studio in 1717, and was received into the Fraglia or guild of painters.
Tiepolo's first masterpieces in Venice were a cycle of enormous canvases painted to decorate a large reception room of Ca' Dolfin on the Grand Canal of Venice (ca. 1726–1729), depicting ancient battles. By 1750, Tiepolo's reputation was firmly established throughout Europe. That year he traveled to Würzburg at the call of Prince Bishop Karl Philipp von Greiffenklau, where he resided for three years and executed ceiling paintings in the New Residenz palace (completed 1744). Tiepolo returned to Venice in 1753. He was now in demand locally, as well as abroad where he was elected President of the Academy of Padua. In 1761, Charles III commissioned him to create a ceiling fresco to decorate the throne room of the Royal Palace of Madrid. In Spain, he incurred the jealousy and the bitter opposition of the rising champion of Neoclassicism, Anton Raphael Mengs.
Tiepolo died in Madrid in 1770. After his death, the rise of stern Neoclassicism and the post-revolutionary decline of royal absolutism led to the slow decline of the Tiepolo style, but that didn't dent his reputation. By 1772, Tiepolo's son was sufficiently famous to be documented as painter to Doge Giovanni Cornaro, in charge of the decoration of Palazzo Mocenigo a San Polo.
Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista (1696-1770) - 1752 The Death of Hyacinth (Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid)
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo was a Venetian painter and printmaker. He was prolific, and worked not only in the region of Venice but also in Germany and Spain. He was initially a pupil of Gregorio Lazzarini, but the influences from elder contemporaries such as Sebastiano Ricci and Giovanni Battista Piazzetta are stronger in his work. At 19 years of age, Tiepolo completed his first major commission, the Sacrifice of Isaac (now in the Accademia). He left Lazzarini studio in 1717, and was received into the Fraglia or guild of painters.
Tiepolo's first masterpieces in Venice were a cycle of enormous canvases painted to decorate a large reception room of Ca' Dolfin on the Grand Canal of Venice (ca. 1726–1729), depicting ancient battles. By 1750, Tiepolo's reputation was firmly established throughout Europe. That year he traveled to Würzburg at the call of Prince Bishop Karl Philipp von Greiffenklau, where he resided for three years and executed ceiling paintings in the New Residenz palace (completed 1744). Tiepolo returned to Venice in 1753. He was now in demand locally, as well as abroad where he was elected President of the Academy of Padua. In 1761, Charles III commissioned him to create a ceiling fresco to decorate the throne room of the Royal Palace of Madrid. In Spain, he incurred the jealousy and the bitter opposition of the rising champion of Neoclassicism, Anton Raphael Mengs.
Tiepolo died in Madrid in 1770. After his death, the rise of stern Neoclassicism and the post-revolutionary decline of royal absolutism led to the slow decline of the Tiepolo style, but that didn't dent his reputation. By 1772, Tiepolo's son was sufficiently famous to be documented as painter to Doge Giovanni Cornaro, in charge of the decoration of Palazzo Mocenigo a San Polo.