1754
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Sketch for a Ceiling is a 1754 unspecified by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, a Rococo painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows a small, quickly painted scene of angels and clouds. It's a study for a larger composition. The artist used these sketches to explore design problems and test ideas before creating a full-scale work. The sketch is interesting because it gives a glimpse into the artist's process. Tiepolo made many of these small studies to plan his larger ceiling paintings. You can learn more about this style by looking into the technique of chiaroscuro.
This small, quickly painted picture is typical of the sketches Tiepolo made as studies for larger compositions. When completed full-scale on a ceiling, works like these give the impression of a massive window, through which one can see angels or mythological beings floating among the clouds. Although we know from the work's shape that it was a study for a ceiling painting, it is not related to any of Tiepolo's finished architectural decorations. Tiepolo used such sketches to explore design problems, experiment with form and color, or give his clients an idea of how a finished project would…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, also known as Giambattista Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school.
See the richer artist page
