The picture shows Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa investing Harold of Hochheim, bishop of Würzburg, with the dukedom of Franconia. The event occurred in 1168, but Tiepolo has envisaged it as a Baroque ceremony. The picture is a preparatory study for one of the frescoes in the vault of the Kaisersaal (dining room) of the Residenz (the Prince-Bishop's Palace) in Würzburg. The cycle was executed in 1751–52. The final composition shows a number of major changes and is contained in a gilt stucco surround with painted plaster curtains.

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