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Tiepolo Ceiling, Milan

ca. 1898–1900
Not on view
In preparing to paint an ambitious mural cycle at the Boston Public Library, Sargent studied decorative schemes throughout Europe, often looking to Italian art for inspiration. He may have visited the Palazzo Clerici in Milan to see the renowned ceiling frescoes by the Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770). In this watercolor, Sargent seems less interested in copying Tiepolo’s composition than in recording an impression of the opulent decoration. He sketched details of Tiepolo’s design with a delicate but precise underdrawing before painting in the forms with layers of washes. At the center, above the gilded molding, Sargent copied Tiepolo’s foreshortened figural groups—personifications of the continents and Olympian gods and heroes—which appear to spill off the ceiling. The loosely painted figures at the center of the sheet blend with those of the molding below, creating a confusion of forms that suggests the Baroque splendor of the hall.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Tiepolo Ceiling, Milan
  • Artist: John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
  • Date: ca. 1898–1900
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Watercolor and graphite on white wove paper
  • Dimensions: 14 x 9 7/8 in. (35.6 x 25.1 cm)
    Mat: 19 1/4 × 14 1/4 in. (48.9 × 36.2 cm)
    Framed (standard exhibition frame): 21 1/4 × 16 1/4 × 1 1/8 in. (54 × 41.3 × 2.9 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Francis Ormond, 1950
  • Object Number: 50.130.25
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Mountain Landscape (from "Splendid Mountain Watercolours" Sketchbook), John Singer Sargent American, Graphite on off-white wove paper, American
Mountain Landscape (from "Splendid Mountain Watercolours" Sketchbook)
John Singer Sargent
1870
Wetterhorn, Grindelwald (from "Splendid Mountain Watercolours" Sketchbook), John Singer Sargent American, Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper, American
Wetterhorn, Grindelwald (from "Splendid Mountain Watercolours" Sketchbook)
John Singer Sargent
1870
Mount Pilatus, recto (from "Splendid Mountain Watercolours" Sketchbook), John Singer Sargent American, Wax crayon on off-white wove paper, American
Mount Pilatus, recto (from "Splendid Mountain Watercolours" Sketchbook)
John Singer Sargent
1870
Mountain View, Mürren (from "Splendid Mountain Watercolours" Sketchbook), John Singer Sargent American, Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper, American
Mountain View, Mürren (from "Splendid Mountain Watercolours" Sketchbook)
John Singer Sargent
1870
View from Schilthorn (from "Splendid Mountain Watercolours" Sketchbook), John Singer Sargent American, Graphite on off-white wove paper, American
View from Schilthorn (from "Splendid Mountain Watercolours" Sketchbook)
John Singer Sargent
1870

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