A Group of Punchinelli Seated
ca. 1760
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brown wash, over black chalk
Dimensions
7 11/16 x 11 1/4 in. (19.5 x 28.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.438
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold *A Group of Punchinelli Seated*, lively preparatory drawing by Giovanni Battista Tiep, the virtuoso of Venetian Rococo, created around 1760. This intimate sheet (7 11/16 x 11 1/4 in.) captures a cluster of hunchbacked Punchinelli—humorous, bulbous-nosed figures from the commedia dell'arte tradition—ounging in animated repose. Tiepolo, for his grand frescoes in palaces and churches across Europe, often turned to such sketches to explore theatrical poses and dynamic groupings, blending whimsy with masterful draftsmanship. Executed in pen and brown ink with brown wash over black chalk, th...
About the Artist
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo · 1696–1770
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770) stands as the greatest decorative painter of eighteenth-century Europe, a Venetian master whose luminous frescoes and dynamic compositions defined the Rococo era's aesthetic zenith. Born in Venice on March 5, 1696, to a modest shipping merchant family, Tiepolo's extraordinary talent transcended his humble origins to establish him as the most sought-after artis...