Allegory of the Planets and Continents

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian

Not on view

The canvas, which is among Tiepolo's largest and most dazzling oil sketches, represents Apollo about to embark on his daily course across the sky. Deities around the sun god symbolize the planets and allegorical figures on the cornice represent the Four Continents. On April 20, 1752, Tiepolo presented this preliminary sketch to Carl Philipp von Greiffenklau, prince-bishop of Würzburg, as his proposal for the decoration of the staircase ceiling of the Residenz, often considered the artist's greatest achievement and a landmark of European painting.

#5094. Allegory of the Planets and Continents

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Allegory of the Planets and Continents, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, Venice 1696–1770 Madrid), Oil on canvas

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