Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Possibly Gregory Vladimirovitch Orloff (1777-1826), St. Petersburg;
Prince Alexis Orloff,
his sale, Paris, Georges Petit, 29-30 April 1920, lot 107, reproduced;
John Nicholas Brown, Providence, Rhode Island;
with Thomas Agnew & Sons, London; acquired in 1993 

Chicago, Art Institute, Paintings Drawings and Prints by the two Tiepolos: Giambattista and Giandomenico, 1938, no. 53

George Knox, 'The Orloff Album of Tiepolo Drawings,' The Burlington Magazine, CIII, no. 699, June 1961, pp. 273, 275

Fixed in all four corners to old album sheet. Some light spotting and foxing, and a few light stains, especially towards edges. A few dark spots on the verso, lower half of the sheet, which show through somewhat to front. A few very light surface creases. Otherwise media all still good and strong.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Of the various albums of drawings by Tiepolo that have been identified over the years, the volume of 96 drawings sold from the collection of the Russian Prince Alexis Orloff in Paris in 1920 is justifiably one of the most celebrated.  The sheets in the Orloff album were mostly large, elaborate and supremely assured compositions. They were all in exceptionally fine condition, allowing Giambattista's dashing chalk underdrawing and limpid, golden-brown wash to work in perfect harmony and create the gently flickering, extremely beautiful lighting typical of his finest works.  

The history and formation of the Orloff album remains unclear.  George Knox suggested two possibilities -- that it was originally one of the Cheney albums (see lots 82 and 84) and was purchased at the Cheney sale in 1885 by Prince Alexis Orloff himself, or that it had been acquired much earlier by his ancestor Gregory Vladimirovitch Orloff (1777-1826) -- but went on to write that the second of these alternatives seemed by far the more likely.¹

The majority of the Orloff drawings date from the mid-1730s, but a few, including the present sheet, seem to have been executed very slightly later, around 1740.  Most of the drawings are highly sensitive and original renderings of various biblical subjects.  The album also contained a second depiction of the Incredulity of St. Thomas (Orloff sale, lot 108), where Christ stands in profile, facing the Saint and his companions, but otherwise this subject is not one that Tiepolo treated frequently.  This would seem consistent with the general assumption that these large compositional drawings were made as finished works in their own right, and not as preparatory studies for paintings.

1. Knox, op. cit., pp. 269-70