Tiepolo, Giambattista.

2 pages, folio (300 x 250mm.), integral blank with docketing ("Polizza di spese fatte da me Gio: Batt[ist]a Tiepolo nel viaggio da Venecia a Madrid"), coat-of-arms watermark (cf. Heawood nos. 724-731: Madrid, c. 1746-1749), undated [June 1762], minor tears at folds (not affecting text), slight creasing

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"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."

a newly discovered primary source disclosing each stage of tiepolo's last journey.

At the close of 1761, an urgent and concerted diplomatic effort by Charles III's ministers and ambassadors persuaded Tiepolo to paint the frescoes of the recently completed Royal Palace in Madrid. The painter left Venice the following spring, taking with him the modelletto he had already executed for the Throne Room fresco ("The Glory of Spain"), his two sons (the painters Giovanni Domenico and Lorenzo Baldissera), and his official companion, Giuseppe Casina, a Paduan mirror merchant with Spanish connections. The company arrived in Madrid on 4 June 1762. Exhausted by the two-month-long journey, the 66-year-old painter spent a few days as a guest of the Venetian ambassador, Sebastiano Foscarini, before setting to work in the palace's Throne Room. This much can be gleaned from other sources, but most of the details of the journey revealed by the present document were previously unknown to Tiepolo's biographers.

The expenses trace the various stages of his journey by land via Padua, Turin, the Mont Cenis pass, Lyon and Barcelona and cover basic requirements such as carriages, horses' equipment, contracts with coachmen, the hiring of mules, provisions, and the occasional tip. They also reveal, for example, that the company included two more travellers (presumably the "servitori" for whom he bought "due vestiti"), and stayed four days in Turin and Lyon and five days in Barcelona. The journey appears to have been relatively gruelling, requiring frequent repairs to the carriages and the hiring of mules and men to cross rivers ("Spese occorse in far accommodar la carrozza piu volte, et altri acidenti occorsi di dover prender mule et uomeni per passar fiumi...300"). Eventually, after a twenty days' passage from Barcelona, a carriage met Tiepolo at Alcalá, where porters were hired to take his belongings home from the customs house. The expenses are rounded off with a gift to Tiepolo's travelling companion, the merchant Casina. According to published documents in the Spanish royal archives, the total sum (amounting to 20,027 piastres) was duly reimbursed within a month, by order of the Marquis of Esquilache.

After completing "The Glory of Spain" in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace, Tiepolo painted the ceiling frescoes in the Guard Room and the Queen's antechamber ("The Apotheosis of the Spanish Monarchy"). This project was Tiepolo's last major commission.

manuscript material signed by tiepolo is exceedingly rare on the market.

This document will be published in a forthcoming article in Arte Veneta by Professor Bernard Aikema: "Giambattista Tiepolo in viaggio per la Spagna. Un nuovo documento".