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Object Timeline

1938

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2008

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Print, Dedication Page to Charles III of Spain and the Two Sicilies, frontispiece for Paolantonio Paoli, Rovine della città di Pesto detta ancora Posidonia (1784), ca. 1765

This is a Print. It was created by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. It is dated ca. 1765 and we acquired it in 1938. Its medium is etching, engraving on off-white laid paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

A winged figure places the sculpted bust of King Charles III of Spain and the Two Sicilies on a pedestal. Below, cherubs sit amidst symbols of the arts and war and a radiant sun overlooks the scene. Loose, gestural lines strengthened by warm washes of ink create a lively scene with the suggestion of depth. Tiepolo produced this drawing towards the end of his life, when his fame was at its height. It is a study for the frontispiece of Rovine della città di Pesto detta ancora Posidonia, a book on the recently discovered ruins of Paestum, published in Rome in 1784. Material for the book was collected by Count Felice Gazzola, an amateur archeologist and engineer at the service of the king. In the final etching, the dedication to Charles is located on the pedestal, in place of the laurel wreath. The Venetian printmaker Giovanni Volpato translated Tiepolo’s energetic sketch into a highly finished print. The preliminary study for this drawing is at the Prado museum in Spain.

It is credited Bequest of Erskine Hewitt.

Its dimensions are

33.1 x 23.5 cm (13 1/16 x 9 1/4 in.)

It is signed

Signed, in plate, lower left: Gio. Batta Tiepolo inv. e del.; lower right: Giovanni Volpato incis. Venezia

Cite this object as

Print, Dedication Page to Charles III of Spain and the Two Sicilies, frontispiece for Paolantonio Paoli, Rovine della città di Pesto detta ancora Posidonia (1784), ca. 1765; Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, 1692 - 1770); Italy; etching, engraving on off-white laid paper; 33.1 x 23.5 cm (13 1/16 x 9 1/4 in.); Bequest of Erskine Hewitt; 1938-57-219-b

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18349341/ |title=Print, Dedication Page to Charles III of Spain and the Two Sicilies, frontispiece for Paolantonio Paoli, Rovine della città di Pesto detta ancora Posidonia (1784), ca. 1765 |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=14 December 2019 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>