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Study for an Inkstand

ca. 1740–45
Not on view
The celebrated Venetian painter, etcher, and draftsman Giambattista Tiepolo is best known for his theatrically painted ceilings. This sheet represents a lesser known side of Tiepolo’s production: his designs for metalwork. Formerly identified as a study for a fountain, this drawing is now thought to represent a design for an inkstand, possibly in silver, viewed slightly from below and to the left of its central axis. Two goose quill pens emerge from conical shell holders behind the two figures of mermaids, whose tails serve as support stands for the object. The central figure, holding a torch and a book, represents Sapienza, or knowledge. The drawing probably dates to the 1740s, when the artist produced other designs for silver.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Study for an Inkstand
  • Artist: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, Venice 1696–1770 Madrid)
  • Date: ca. 1740–45
  • Medium: Pen and brown ink, gray wash, with splashes of brown wash on the left, over black chalk
  • Dimensions: 17 11/16 x 12 3/16 in. (45 x 31 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.425
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

More Artwork

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Adoration of the Magi, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian, Etching
Adoration of the Magi
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
ca. 1753 (?)
Half-dressed Nymph with two children, surrounded by four men, from the Scherzi, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian, Etching
Half-dressed Nymph with two children, surrounded by four men, from the Scherzi
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
ca. 1743–50
St. Joseph with the Child Jesus
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
The Family of the oriental Peasant, from the Scherzi, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian, Etching
The Family of the oriental Peasant, from the Scherzi
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
ca. 1740
A Shepherd with two Magicians, from the Scherzi, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian, Etching
A Shepherd with two Magicians, from the Scherzi
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
ca. 1740

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