Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
HEAD OF A PHILOSOPHER
Oil on canvas (relined). 58 x 47,5 cm.
Our painting is one variation of a composition by Giambattista Tiepolo. The most well-known one is in the National Gallery Prague. After his father's death in Madrid in 1770, Domenico returned to Venice where he published a graphic series after his father's paintings. Those were created between 1770 and 1774. The models were heads of older men in oriental or exotic dress, so-called wise men, patriarchs or philosophers. This motif, already in Tiepolo's time, had a tradition in European painting, e. g. with G. B. Castiglione and Rembrandt.
We thank Prof. Bernard Aikema (Venice) for his expertise on Domenico Tiepolo's painting. He writes: "The painting is of particularly high quality. In my opinion, it is an outstanding work by Giandomenico Tieplo, created in the 1770's, a successful "Aemulatio" by a son on his father's invention".
Domenico created further such works. Ours is best compared to one in the Art Institute of Chicago.
Provenance
Private collection, South Germany.
Literature
A. Morassi: A complete Catalogue of the paintings of G. B. Tiepolo. London 1962. - A. Mariuz: Giandomenico Tiepolo. Venice 1971.- G. Knox: "Philosophers Portraits" by Giambattista, Domenico and Lorenzo Tiepolo. In: The Burlington Magazine, March 1975.