Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo was an Italian Baroque painter. He was born in 1727, the eldest son of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. The latter was one of the most important Italian painters of his time and the son inherited his artistic talent, as did his younger brother Lorenzo. Both brothers received their training in their father's studio and worked there for years as assistants. At the age of 20, however, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo made his debut as an independent artist when he created 14 canvases for the Stations of the Cross in the Oratory of San Polo in Venice. Nevertheless, he continued to work for or with his famous father - in 1750, for example, he went with him and his brother to Würzburg, where Tiepolo the Elder had been summoned by Prince-Bishop Karl Philipp von Greiffenklau. There all three Tiepolos executed ceiling paintings in the New Residence, including the famous "Staircase Fresco" with the allegory of the planets and continents. Several portraits are inserted into this work, including a self-portrait by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo.

After returning from Würzburg, he followed this with the decoration of the famous Villa Almanara ai Nani in Vicenca in 1757 and the decoration of the palace of Emperor Charles III in Madrid from 1762 to 1770. In 1770 Tiepolo the Elder died and Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo now developed an independent style of painting, independent of his father, which increasingly distanced itself from religious motifs, although he naturally continued to create works on religious themes. However, he also painted numerous portraits and scenes from the urban life of the simple inhabitants of Venice, where he lived at the time. He also decorated the family villa of the Tiepolos in Ziangio near Mirano with scenes from the everyday life and leisure pleasures of ordinary people and with urban and rural scenes. His paintings "Il Pifferaio (The Pipe Blower)" and "Peasant Meal", for example, are famous.

But he was also a good etcher and draughtsman and was also enthusiastic about the "Commedia dell Arte". For example, he drew a series of over 100 scenes from the life of Pulcinella, the infamous servant character from the Commedia, a sort of early comic strip.

At the age of 77, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo died highly respected in his family villa. He had no direct descendants.