GIOVANNI DOMENICO TIEPOLO | Study of a bishop seated on a cloud

Window mounted. Small section of upper left corner made up. There are some red wash/chalk stains on the sheet, most probably studio stains, located in the upper section and centre of the sheet. Light staining around the edges and surface dirt. Other light brown staining throughout the sheet, not too strong. Medium remains strong and vibrant.
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A stylistically similar drawing by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, The Way to Calvary, was formerly in the Woodner Collection.¹  In both sheets, Tiepolo has used the point of the brush and wash to build up his figures.  The Woodner drawing was dated by George Knox to circa 1751-3, when Domenico was working with his father at Würzburg.  It has not been possible to connect the bishop depicted here to any frescoes by Domenico, nor does it appear to relate to a fresco executed by his father, Giovanni Battista, but it is clearly a relatively early work, from the time when the artist was working alongside his father. ^1. Sale, London, Christie's, 2 July 1991, lot 129