Old Master Paintings Part 1
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GIOVANNI DOMENICO TIEPOLO,
1727 VENICE – 1804 IBID., ATTRIBUTED
THE MINUET- VENETIAN CARNIVAL SCENE
Oil on canvas. Relined.
79.5 x 108.5 cm.
Verso on the stretcher with a label.
The depiction is inspired by plays of Carlo Goldoni
and shows the main characters of the Commedia
dell´Arte, Pantalone and Columbina, along with other
elegantly dressed, masked figures, gathered in the
garden of a villa to dance. It is a genre scene set in the
atmosphere of carnival; the event that made a visit to
the city of Venice complete for 18th century European
travellers. Tiepolo uses the carnival as a pretext to describe
the customs and mood of those around him: a
society that hides its decadence, hides behind fleeting
appearances, amusements, and pastimes. When
Tiepolo created this painting, the minuet, a very distinctive
couple dance, had been popular throughout
Europe for some time. The scene shown by Tiepolo is
Venetian, while numerous minuets, for example by
Luigi Boccherini, were also created abroad, for example
in Madrid. This excellent work refers directly to
another work with similar dimensions (81 x 105 cm)
held at the Louvre in Paris with inv. no. RF1938-39.
The painting there was held in the collection of Francesco
Algarotti in 1765 and from 1876 in the collection
of Princess Mathilde Bonaparte. Another version is
held at the Metropolitan Museum in New York (75.6 x
120 cm, inv. no. 1980767) and another at the Museu
Nacional d´Art de Catalunya in Barcelona (78.5 x 110
cm, inv. no. 064988). A further version is held at the
New Orleans Museum of Art (78.1 x 108.6, inv. no.
61.88), which is also considered a workshop work.
The attribution history of the present painting has
often considered it to be by Giandomenico himself.
(E. Martini, 1991; G Knox, 1999 G.M Pilo, undated; U.
Ruggeri, undated).
Provenance:
Collection Imelda Marcos, widow of the former president
of the Phillipines.
Christie’s New York, 11 January 1991, lot 69.
€ 70.000 - € 100.000
Sistrix
INFO | BID
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