Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Who is... Giovanni Baptista Tiepolo?
PASSION PORTRAYAL Christ Carrying the Cross
Giovanni Baptista Tiepolo was born in Venice in 1696. His father was a sea captain and died a year after his birth leaving his mother Orsetta to bring him up. He studied under Gregorio Lazzarini and also studied the works of Titian, Piazzeta, Ricci and Paolo Veronese.
His use of colour was so like Veronese that his peers dubbed him Veronese Redivo (new Veronese).
At 19, he executed his first commission, The Sacrifice of Isaac, which followed the baroque tradition of chiaroscuro. He was received into the Venetian guild in 1717 and in 1719 married Maria Cecilia, sister of the Venetian artists Francesco and Giovanni Guardi.
The couple had ten children of which two sons, Domenico and Lorenzo assisted their father.
The Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew
Tiepolo's prodigious output (800 paintings, 2,400 drawings, two sets of etchings and acres of fresco) was possible because he first painted small models, which on approval by the client would be executed by a team of skilled assistants. These models elevated the oil sketch to the level of an art form.
Commissions came to Tiepolo from far and wide starting with his work for the Archbishop's Palace in Udine, for the Prince Bishop in Würzburg and for Charles III in Madrid. Tiepolo moved away from the Baroque concept of illuminating dark, closed spaces with contrast to create light, airy sunny palates. He, however, retained the theatrical grandeur and was the first master of the Grand Manner.
He is considered the most famous Rococo practitioner with his populated historical set pieces. His work was a celebration of artistic caprice and fantasy where saints and angels and mythical and historical figures luminously peopled his canvas.
Perspective for the ceiling frescoes was created by Mengozzi-Colonna, who collaborated with Tiepolo for most of his life.
Tiepolo's popularity in Madrid drew the envy of the neo-classicist Raphael Ming. When Tiepolo died in Madrid on March 27, 1770, it prompted a Venetian diarist to mourn the "bitter loss" of "the most famous Venetian painter, truly the most renowned... well known in Europe and the most highly praised in his native land."
MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
|
