Time Seated, Clutching a Putto
1696–1770
Medium
Pen and dark brown ink, brush with pale and dark brown wash, over black chalk
Dimensions
10-1/16 x 12-13/16 in. (25.5 x 32.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1937
Accession Number
37.165.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold *Time Seated, Clutching a Putto*, a preparatory drawing by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770), one of Venice's greatest Rococo artists. Rendered in pen and dark brown ink with brush and pale/dark brown wash over black chalk this compact 10-1/16 x 12-13/16-inch sheet (acquired via Rogers Fund in 1937) captures Tiepolo's fluid, expressive linework and subtle tonal modeling, hallmarks of his draftsmanship that bridged Baroque drama and Rococo lightness. The composition allegorically depicts Father Time seated and clutching a chubby putto—a cherubic child symbolizing innocence or the fl...
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...