This course aims at providing the fundamental tools for understanding the formal development and the most relevant themes that can be found in the oeuvre of the painter Giovan Battista Tiepolo; in particular, paintings will be analysed with the help of a wide series of sources (drawn from litterature, documents, etc.).
This course will underline the role played by Tiepolo in the Venetian and European context and his response to the social values of the time. In this light, a special focus will be set on iconography and iconology, stressing the painter’s connection to contemporary culture, not only in the visual field.
The course's goal is to provide students with basic tools for recognising the main cultural structures in Tiepolo's oeuvre; recognising the prevailing iconographies; dealing with problems in interpreting Tiepolo's paintings with a critical judgement; recognising the main sources. During the course, students are constantly invited to develop their judgement and express their opinions on the works of art (slides will be loaded on the learning site).
Students are frequently encouraged to verify the liabilty of the theoretical statements they have learnt from the teacher by analysing the works of art by their own (the works of art will be discussed during the lessons and their images will be loaded on the e-learning website); furthermore, students are encouraged to express their opinions on specific problems concerning particular works of art, so that they can develop their skills in analysing and giving their personal judgement.
The Venetian context.and G.B. Tiepolo (Venice, 1696- Madrid 1760).
Formation and early works of Tiepolo.
The Venetian patrons: 1. religious orders and sacred paintings; 2. patrician families and the celebration of their virtues.
Commissions and themes beyond Venice: Milan, Würzburg, Madrid and the European culture of the Eighteenth century.
| Author | Title | Publisher | Year | ISBN | Note |
| Catherine Wisthler | Decoro e devozione nelle pale di Giambattista Tiepolo ad Aranjuez, in “Arte Veneta”, 52 | 1998 | pp. 70-85 | ||
| Massimo Gemin, Filippo Pedrocco | Giambattista Tiepolo. I dipinti. L’opera completa | Arsenale | 1993 | 9788877431334 | pp. 15-208 |
| William Barcham | Il “Trionfo di Flora” di Giambattista Tiepolo: una Primavera per Dresda, in “Arte Veneta”, 45 | 1993 | pp. 70-77 | ||
| Adriano Mariuz | Tiepolo | Cierre | 2008 | 9788883144912 | pp. 127-166; 403-418; 443-448; 489-523 |
| Denis Ton | Tiepolo e Vico: il “trionfo dell’eloquenza” in palazzo Sandi, in “Arte Veneta”, 61 | 2004 | pp. 110-123 |
oral exam
