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Overview

Famed as a decorator, Tiepolo made this small sketch as his model for a vast ceiling fresco in the throne room of the Royal Palace of Madrid, a project that was the climax of his illustrious career. Taking its cue from the room's function, Tiepolo's design has as its central feature the allegorical figure of Spain enthroned and flanked by Herculean statues. Just above is the trumpeting figure of Fame. The borders are packed with lively figures representing the provinces of Spain and the continents where she held colonies. At the upper left, Christopher Columbus stands with outstretched arms on the deck of his ship. Nearby are Neptune, god of the sea, who guides the expedition, and an American Indian in a feathered headdress.

One must think of this as a design to be seen overhead in a large, high-ceilinged room. With his legendary facility, Tiepolo resolved the difficulties of foreshortening forms seen from sharply below, of deploying the figures in coherent groups, and, in turn, incorporating the groups into an effective overall design. The result is an airy sweep that seems to open directly to the heavens with all its buoyant and extravagant population paying homage to Spain.

More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication Italian Paintings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, which is available as a free PDF https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/italian-paintings-17th-and-18th-centuries.pdf

Provenance

Possibly by inheritance from the artist to a niece who married Pagliano, perhaps the painter Eleuterio Pagliano [1826-1903]; possibly purchased in Venice by Edward Cheney [1803-1884],[1] London, after 1860 at Badger Hall, Shropshire;[2] possibly by inheritance to his brother-in-law, Colonel Alfred Capel-Cure [1826-1896]; by inheritance to his nephew, Francis Capel-Cure [1854-1933], Badger Hall, Shropshire.[3] (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, Florence);[4] purchased 26 June 1935 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[5] gift 1943 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1975
The European Vision of America, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Cleveland Museum of Art; Grand Palais, Paris, 1975-1977, no. 136, repro., as The World Pays Homage to Spain (shown in Washington only, 1975-1976).
1982
Goya and the Art of His Time, Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, 1982-1983, no. I.39 (cat. by Edward J. Sullivan).
1992
International Specialized Exhibition "Christopher Columbus: Ships and the Sea", Italian Pavilion, Ente Colombo '92, Genova, 1992, not in cat.
1993
Giambattista Tiepolo: Master of the Oil Sketch, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 1993, no. 55, repro., as The World Pays Homage to Spain.
1993
Loan for display with permanent collection, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts, 1993-1994.
1994
The Glory of Venice: Art in the Eighteenth Century, Royal Academy of Arts, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Museo del Settecento Veneziano - Ca'Rezzonico, Venice, 1994-1995, no. 128 (London and Washington), no. 62 (Venice), repro.
1996
Giambattista Tiepolo: 1696 - 1996, Museo del Settecento Veneziano - Ca'Rezzonico, Venice; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1996-1997, no. 53, repro., as The Wealth and Benefits of the Spanish Monarchy (shown only in New York).
1998
Giambattista Tiepolo 1696-1770, Musée du Petit Palais, Paris, 1998-1999, no. 76, repro., as Le Monde rend hommage à l'Espagne.
2004
Spain in the Age of Exploration, 1492-1819, Seattle Art Museum; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, 2004-2005, unnumbered catalogue, pl. 93 (shown only in Seattle).

Technical Summary

The support is a tightly woven plain-weave fabric of rather coarse texture with thick threads. The primary ground is a red layer that covers the entire surface of the fabric. A secondary yellow layer was applied over the center of the surface, leaving a border approximately 5 cm wide around the edge. Air-path x-ray fluorescence and analysis of cross-sections shows that the red layer consists of red and yellow iron oxides. The yellow layer is in fact two layers of different colored pigments, and appears to be lighter in color under the figures; these yellow layers are a mixture of iron-oxide-based pigments and lead white.

Infrared reflectography revealed loose and infrequent underdrawing with a brush; black and brown paint were used. The paint was applied as a slightly stiff paste that retained the texture of brushstrokes. A quick, vibrant scumbling of the paint is visible, particularly in the sky, and the thick handling of the clouds contrasts with the thinly painted, generally dark areas such as the figures around the edge of the composition. Throughout all stages of work, the artist employed a sketching-in process and scumbling techniques, until fine details and finishing touches were added with a fluid dark paint. X-radiographs reveal minor compositional changes by the artist, most importantly a thick layer of clouds under the greenish gray balustrade on the sides in the lower half of the composition and a rainbow above the figure of Faith. Scientific analysis revealed a limited palette consisting of lead white, vermilion, red and yellow iron earths, bone black, brown umber, ultramarine, terre verte, and very sparing amounts of Prussian blue.

Although the paint is generally secure, there are many small losses and areas of abrasion throughout, as well as several small holes. In 1939 the painting was relined, discolored varnish was removed, and the painting was restored by Stephen Pichetto. In 1987-1990 Teresa Longyear removed discolored varnish and restored the painting.

Bibliography

1910
Sack, Eduard. Giambattista und Domenico Tiepolo. Ihr Leben und Ihre Werke. Hamburg, 1910: 139, 223.
1945
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 146, repro., as The World Pays Homage to Spain.
1952
Gerstenberg, Kurt. "Tiepolos Weltbild in Würzburg und Madrid." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 15 (1952): 152, 154, fig. 10.
1955
Morassi, Antonio. G. B. Tiepolo. His Life and Work. London, 1955: 35, fig. 79.
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 251, repro., as The World Pays Homage to Spain.
1960
Knox, George. Catalogue of the Tiepolo Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 1960: 38, n. 13, 91.
1960
Pallucchini 1960, 97, fig. 243.
1961
Knox, George. "The Orloff Album of Tiepolo Drawings." The Burlington Magazine 103 (June 1961): 274.
1962
Morassi, Antonio. A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings of G. B. Tiepolo. London, 1962: 67.
1964
Knox, George. "Drawings by Giambattista and Domenico Tiepolo at Princeton." Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 23 (1964): 25.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 127, as The World Pays Homage to Spain.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 113, repro., as The World Pays Homage to Spain.
1968
Pallucchini, Anna. L'opera completa di Giambattista Tiepolo. Milan, 1968: 130-131, no. 279a, repro.
1971
Pallucchini, Anna. "Aggiunte e precisazioni al catalogo delle opere del Tiepolo." In Atti del Congresso internatzionale di studi sul Tiepolo. Milan, 1971: 101-103.
1971
Rizzi, Aldo. Mostra del Tiepolo. Dipinti. Exh. cat. Villa Manin di Passariano, Udine. Milan, 1971: 155, fig. 73.
1972
Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972: 198.
1973
Fahy, Everett, and Francis John Bagott Watson. The Wrightsman Collection. Vol. 5: Paintings, drawings, sculpture. New York, 1973: 244-246, fig. 13.
1973
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XVI-XVIII Century. London, 1973: 150-152, fig. 289.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 338, repro., as The World Pays Homage to Spain.
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:445-448; 2:pl. 323, as The World Pays Homage to Spain.
1980
Knox, George. Giambattista and Domenico Tiepolo. A Study and Catalogue Raisonné of the Chalk Drawings. 2 vols. Oxford, 1980: 1:193, 242.
1981
Jones, Leslie. "Peace, Prosperity and Politics in Tiepolo's 'Glory of the Spanish Monarchy'." Apollo 114 (1981): 226-227, fig. 11.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 346, no. 474, color repro., as The World Pays Homage to Spain.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 388, repro., as The World Pays Homage to Spain.
1986
Levey, Michael. Giambattista Tiepolo. His Life and Art. New Haven and London, 1986: 255-257, 262, fig. 257.
1988
Urrea, Jesus. "Una famiglia di pittori veneziana in Spagna: i Tiepolo." In Venezia e la Spagna. Milan, 1988: 233.
1992
Checa, Fernando. "Los Frescos del Palacio Real Nuevo de Madrid y el fin del lenguaje alegórico." Archivio Español de Arte 65 (1992): 165.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 116, repro.
1993
Brown, Beverly Louise. Giambattista Tiepolo: Master of the Oil Sketch. Exh. cat. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth. Milan and New York, 1993: 304-309, no. 55, color repro.
1993
Gemin, Massimo, and Filippo Pedrocco. Giambattista Tiepolo. Venice, 1993: 192, 200, 486, no. 516a, repro.
1993
Longyear, Teresa. "Giambattista Tiepolo: The Energetic and Fluent Brush." In B. L. Brown. Giambattista Tiepolo: Master of the Oil Sketch. Exh. cat. Kimbell Art Mus., Ft. Worth. Milan and New York, 1993: 65, 67-69, 76, 78, repro., figs. 43,44,50, 53-54.
1994
The Glory of Venice. Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington; Museo del Settecento Veneziano - Ca'Rezzonico, Venice; Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice, 1994-1995: 503, no. 128, color pl. 212.
1996
De Grazia, Diane, and Eric Garberson, with Edgar Peters Bowron, Peter M. Lukehart, and Mitchell Merling. Italian Paintings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 272-285, color repro. 277.
1998
Cheney, Liana de Girolami. "Honor/Honoring." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art, ed. Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 1:408.
2002
Pedrocco, Filippo. Giambattista Tiepolo. Milan, 2002: no. 277/1.a, repro.

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