TIEPOLO Giovanni Battista (Venice 1696 - Madrid 1770) The Pr - Lot 19

TIEPOLO Giovanni Battista (Venice 1696 - Madrid 1770) The Procession of Neptune and the Two Sailors (c. 1755 - 1760) Pen, brown ink and brown wash (some minor scratches). Signed in pen and black ink Gio Battas Tiepolo fesit in Venezia. H. 27.2 L. 2.7 cm The theme of Neptune, always armed with his trident, appears closely linked in Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's work to the exaltation of Venice, queen of the sea, as in the painting Neptune offrant ses dons à Venise (1758) in the Doge's Palace. The same figure of Neptune, muscular and bearded, can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of New York's sketch Neptune and the Winds, preparatory to Tiepolo's work for the Royal Palace in Madrid (Cf. Filippo Pedrocco Tiepolo, n°244 & n° 279 - Paris 2002).