January 20-April 21

Walking Man

Père Conti of
the French Mission, ca. 1722

Reclining Man, mid-1720s

The Death of Virginie
from Paul and Virginie

GIOVANNI BATTISTA TIEPOLO, Italian, 1696-1770
Walking Man
pen and brown ink and
brown wash over black chalk, before 1762
Ackland Fund, 71.3.1

Tiepolo was one of the most renowned painters in eighteenth-century Italy.  He was an especially gifted draughtsman, as this sketch of the back of a figure demonstrates. The artist uses washes to convey spatial depth and model three-dimensional forms.

Tiepolo’s easy, loose, sketchy style creates the ideal mood for this relaxed, strolling gentleman. His coat opens at the side, revealing an ample figure within a waistcoat and breeches. The grounded, expansive style and the insightful rendering by the artist, furnish the decidedly un-artful body with a gracious dignity.      

With washes of different intensities, Tiepolo creates both transparent and deep shadows.  The paper left bare suggests brilliant sunlight, which immerses the figure.  He virtually shimmers as he walks away.

Pamela Whedon