Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Paul Roux, Paris,
his sale, Paris, Galerie Charpentier, 14 December 1936;
Richard Owen, Paris;
with Colnaghi, by 1952;
Elvira Leonardi Bouyeure, Milan,
her sale, Milan, Porro & C., 12 October 2004, lot 53 

Hinge mounted to a modern mount. The upper left and right corners have been made up and there is an old crease to the left half of the sheet. There are some small brown stains to the upper edge. Otherwise in good condition with the medium fresh and vibrant throughout.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This highly attractive and characteristic sheet by the 18th Century Venetian master, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, depicts Jupiter and Mercury di sotto in sù (seen from below), a viewpoint frequently employed by the artist in preparation for ceiling decorations.

Prior to this works appearance on the market (see Provenance) George Knox noted its close relationship to Tiepolo's fresco of the ceiling of the Sala degli Arazzi in the Palazzo Clerici, Milan, which depicts The Course of the Sun Chariot.¹  Though both Jupiter and Mercury independently appear in the aforementioned fresco the final composition of these figures differs quite notably from the present work. However before Tiepolo set off from Venice for Milan, to undertake the Palazzo Clerici commission, the artist executed a preliminary oil sketch for the ceiling decoration, which is now housed in the collection of the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth (fig. 1). The existence of this oil sketch illustrates two interesting points, the first of which is to highlight Tiepolo's seeming ignorance of the actual dimensions of the surfaces that were due to be painted in Milan, as the proportions of the oil sketch are not remotely consistent with those of the final fresco. The second more relevant point relates to the very close relationship found between the present drawing and the figure of Jupiter in the Fort Worth oil sketch, in which the God is portrayed in an almost identical pose, with a closely comparable figure seated next to him, much like the figure of Mercury in the present work.

Tiepolo is known to have executed a number of drawings in preparation for the Palazzo Clerici commission, with many of these surviving in two distinct groups, now housed between the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Fondazione Horne, Florence.² The vast majority of these drawings, similarly executed to the present work in Tiepolo's distinctive combination of pen and brown ink and golden-brown wash over black chalk, can be dated on stylistic grounds to circa 1740. It is into this celebrated group of drawings, which in so many ways epitomise Tiepolo's graphic bravura, that the present work must surely be placed.

^1. See F. Pedrocco, Tiepolo, The Complete Paintings, New York 2002, p. 245, no. 142, reproduced
^2. See J. Bean and W. Griswold, 18th Century Italian Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1990, p. 203, under no. 192