- 109
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Description
- Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
- Recto: a sheet of several studies: a foot, a head of a youth in profile, and two bottles verso: study of a right arm with a closed hand
Black chalk (recto and verso) heightened with white chalk (recto) on buff paper;
bears old attribution, on the top left margin, in pen and brown ink: Piazzetta and numbering 24
Provenance
Condition
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.
Catalogue Note
This is a characteristic double-sided sheet by the young Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, clearly strongly influenced by Piazzetta, as the old attribution on the drawing indicates. According to George Knox there are about sixteen known drawings which must have come from the same album. These are all numbered between 7 and 66 and bear the same old attribution to Piazzetta in pen and ink at the top left-hand corner. Five are in the Accademia di Carrara, Bergamo and four were published by Ugo Ruggeri as Giambattista Tiepolo and related to his frescoes, painted in 1726 for the gallery of the Archbishop's Palace, Udine. Knox has rightly pointed out, when writing about the present sheet for a private publication, that the head of the youth is very close to that of the angel in Giambattista's fresco The Angel appearing to Sarah, also in the Archbishop's Palace, Udine.1
1. A. Morassi, G. B. Tiepolo, His Life and Work, London 1955, reproduced pl. 6