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Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
(1696-1770)
Giovanni Battista (also Giambattista) Tiepolo was an Italian painter, the last great master of the Venetian school, and the preeminent muralist in the rococo style. He was born in Venice as the son of a merchant, and studied with various Venetian painters but was most influenced by the 16th-century Venetian master Paolo Veronese. Some art historians consider Tiepolo a painter of both the Baroque and the Rococo styles. It is true that he was apprenticed in the Venetian School during the Baroque Era that ended around 1730, but he was also greatly inspired by the Rococo and the much brighter colours that were one of the characteristics of Rococo.
The Würzburg Frescoes, that are the main subject of this page, were painted 1750-1753 when the Rococo was at its peak, so on this page I have dealt with him as a Rococo painter.
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In
1719 he married Cecilia, the sister of Francesco Guardi (a Venetian Rococo
painter) who gave birth to his
nine children; two of them, Giovanni Domenico
and Lorenzo, became painters and their father's chief assistants. Only
Giovanni Domenico achieved international fame like his father, and numerous
stamps have been issued world wide honouring both of them.
Tiepolo was first listed with the painters' guild of Venice in 1717. His patrons in northern Italy included the Venetian doge and several noble families of the region.
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Tiepolo's mastery of composition, perspective, color, and light enabled him to take full decorative advantage of architectural spaces. His vast frescoes ignore the boundaries of walls and ceilings, creating convincing illusions of new expanses where biblical, mythological, and historical visions unfold in fluent, elegant lines.
Among Tiepolo's early frescoes are Angels Bearing the Casa Santa from Nazareth to Loreto (1743-1744) and other subjects for the Church of the Scalzi in Venice (destroyed in World War I, 1914-1918), as well as the scenes from the lives of Mark Antony and Cleopatra decorating the grand hall of the Palazzo Labia in Venice (before 1750).
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From 1750 to 1753 Tiepolo worked in Würzburg, Germany, under the patronage of its prince-bishop, for whose palace he painted themes from German history and from classical mythology. The Würzburg Palace, in Baroque style, with its Tiepolo-frescoes in Baroque content, but brighter Rococo colouring, was declared World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 1981.
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The building of the palace started in 1720, on request of Bishop Johann. It is made of yellow sandstone, which provides a golden glow. The palace has 300 rooms, spread over 3 wings. The ceiling over the broad staircase is decorated with Tiepolo's frescoes, and portray the god Apollo and the four continents. At the end of World War II, the Residence was partly wrecked by bombs, but the ceilings and their paintings survived. Scan from Microsoft Encarta 2002.
Germany 1998. The Würzburg Residence. The stamp is a joint issue with China.
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The German architect Johann Balthasar Neumann designed the Residence for the prince bishops of Würzburg. Completed in 1746, the palace features a large staircase hall that dominates its center, in which many of Tiepolo's frescoes are located. Although the stamp is in black/white, it still gives a good impression of the enormous staircase and its outstanding art works.The Residence is open to tourists, and its south wing houses the Martin von Wagner Museum.
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In its large definitive series of Important Germans (1961), The German Federal Republic and West Berlin issued the below stamp, honouring Neumann. A frescoe of Neuman is also found in the "Europa"-part of the stairwell.
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The German stamp is undoubtedly produced after the frescoe to the left of Neumann.
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Ceiling frescoe by Tiepolo of Johann Balthazar Neumann, the architect of the Würzburg Palace. Scan from the Tiepolo Frescoes Project.
German Federal Republic 1961, and West Berlin 1961. Baumeister Neumann. Scott 830. (West Berlin, Scott # 9N182)
| A German collector friend, Gerhard Batz, has informed me
that besides the Würzburg residence, his most famous building in
Franconia is the pilgrimage church "Vierzehnheiligen" (Church of
the so-called "14 Nothelfer", saints for all problems of the
life) which is located on a hill over the Main river in the vicinity of
Nuremberg.
No stamps have been issued depicting this church, so Gerhard has sent me a nice photograph, that gives a good impression of the huge church. |
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Further, Neumann has been honoured on a German 50-Mark banknote (issued 1993).
German Federal Republic 1993. 50 Mark banknote, depicting Johann Balthasar Neumann. Pick # 40c. Scan by courtesy of Ron Wise (USA)
In 1754 Tiepolo returned to Venice, where he became director of the Venetian Academy. Frescoes of this period include The Triumph of Faith (1754-1755) in the Church of the Pietà in Venice, scenes for the Villa Valmarana in Vicenza (1757), and decorations for the Palazzo Rezzonico in Venice (1758), as well as the below three paintings, issued San Marino in a se-tenant set as shown.
San Marino 1970. Se-tenant set of three Tiepolo-paintings.
Girl with Mandolin, c. 1760. National Art Gallery, London.
Rinaldo and Armida, c. 1755. Institute of Art, Chicago.
Girl with Parrott, c. 1755. Ashomon Museum, Oxford, Great Britain.
Tiepolo also produced a large number of oil sketches, finished drawings, and imaginative etchings, as well as several altarpieces for Venetian churches. His oil paintings include the Crucifixion (1755-1760, The Saint Louis Art Museum) and Holy Family with Saint Gaetano (Accademia, Venice).
In 1762, by invitation of Charles III, Tiepolo and his sons Giovanni Domenico and Lorenzo, traveled to Spain to execute a commission for the throne room of the royal palace in Madrid. They painted The Smithy of Vulcan in the guardroom, Apotheosis of Spain in the antechamber, and, on the ceiling of the throne room itself, the magnificent Spain and Her Provinces (1762-1767).
Sources and links:
Other Rococo Painters on this site:
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| Revised 24-jul-2006. Ann Mette Heindorff Copyright © 1999-2007. All Rights Reserved |
