Offered by Antichità Castelbarco
Portrait of an Oriental philosopher with book
Workshop of Giambattista Tiepolo (Venice, 1696 - Madrid, 1770)
Possible Lorenzo Tiepolo (Venice, 1736 - Madrid, 1776)
Oil on canvas
cm. 60 x 45
framed cm. 73 x 58
Good conservation condition
Half-length portrait of a mature man, turned three quarters to the left, with a long beard, greying hair and his head covered by a cap. He wears oriental clothing: a white shirt and a purple-red cloak, with the flaps closed by a chest band embellished with a cameo diadem.
In the face furrowed with wrinkles, the intensity of the eyes stands out, hollowed out, yet bright and sharp. It seems clear, even in the indefiniteness of a fantasy portrait, that it is in any case the face of a sage, probably a philosopher.
The details of the face are very precise, the beard unkempt but neatly trimmed, and finally, the eyes expressive and intense, while, he sports a mocking smile.
The source of inspiration was undoubtedly Rembrandt who, in the previous century, had established the characters of this genre, taking elderly men in oriental-inspired clothing as models to create poetic and enigmatic images, bearers of a wisdom obscure to us and thus ‘philosophers’ par excellence, destined to delight and fascinate the observer.
The canvas, of truly remarkable quality, is closely connected to the production of heads of character and fantasy that developed in Venice during the 18th century and reached its apex in the works of Gian Battista Tiepolo, author of the famous series of twenty fantasy portraits of ‘Philosophers’, later taken up in the workshop by his sons Gian Domenico and Lorenzo, who made outstanding contributions to this particular figurative type.
In particular, we can compare the prototype with the ‘Portrait of a Bearded Old Man’, traceable in the print made by Gian Domenico Tiepolo (Galleria Sabauda, Fondo Grafica, inventory number 3359
Looking closely at the style of our effigy, the greatest points of contact are with the works of the second-born Lorenzo Tiepolo (Venice, 1736 - Madrid, 1776), to whom we could probably attribute the execution.
The youngest son of Giambattista, the painter trained in the family workshop in Venice, but followed his father both to Würzburg, where he was called to decorate the residence of Prince-Bishop Philipp von Greiffenklau in 1750, and to Madrid at the court of Charles III of Spain to decorate the Palacio de Oriente, the new Court Palace.
Once he returned to the lagoon city on a permanent basis, Lorenzo began to pursue his own profession independently, specialising brilliantly in portraiture and, as in this case, reproducing works that evoke his father's canvases.
Among Lorenzo Tiepolo's works we can mention, in correlation to our painting, the Portrait of a Philosopher with Book (Baltimore Art Museum, imm.1,
Delevery information :
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