Classical Figures Gathered around an Urn

1724/1729

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Associated Names
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Artist, Venetian, 1696 - 1770

This is a drawing of a group of abstract figures. The drawing features a cluster of figures arranged closely together. The lines are sketched with a fluid and loose style. Some figures appear to be leaning, sitting, or crouching, creating depth. The drawing captures emotion and complexity through subtle line variations. The background is left mostly untouched, focusing on the figures.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and brown ink on laid paper; black chalk sketches of mostly architecture on verso

  • Credit Line

    Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 33 x 27 cm (13 x 10 5/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1989.7.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Douglas Huntly Gordon (Lugt 1130a), Baltimore, MD, 1947; by descent to Mrs. Douglas Gordon; (sale, New York, Christie's, 11 January 1989, lot 62); purchased (via David Tunick) by NGA, 1989.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1970

  • Tiepolo, A Bicentenary Exhibition 1770-1970, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, MA 1970, no. 6, repro.

1995

  • Splendori del Settecento Veneziano, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice, 1995, p. 419, no. 136, repro.

  • The Glory of Venice: Art In the Eighteenth Century, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1995, not in catalogue.

2006

  • The Poetry of Light: Venetian Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2006.

2014

  • La Poesia della Luce: Disegni Veneziani dalla National Gallery of Art di Washington, Museo Correr, Venice, 2014 - 2015, no. 64, repro.

Bibliography

1970

  • Tiepolo: A Bicentenary Exhibition. Exh. cat. The Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, MA, 1970: no. 6.

1995

  • Splendori del Settecento Veneziano. Exh. cat. Electa, Milan, 1995: 419.

Inscriptions

by later hand, lower right verso in graphite: 115 / DT[?]TBTTANN

Watermarks

shield containing a profile of a running figure carrying (?) a cross (not in Briquet)

Wikidata ID

Q64572369

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