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Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 643
On April 20, 1752, Tiepolo presented this preliminary sketch to Carl Philipp von Greiffenklau, prince‑bishop of Würzburg, in present-day Germany, as his proposal for the decoration of the staircase ceiling at the ruler’s residence. The resulting fresco has been lauded as the artist’s greatest achievement and a landmark of European painting. Among Tiepolo’s largest and most dazzling oil sketches, this picture shows Apollo about to embark on his daily journey across the sky. Deities around the sun god symbolize the planets, and allegorical figures at the edges personify Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The final fresco positions Würzburg and its rulers at the center of the cosmos.
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Fig. 1. Diagram identifying figures depicted
Artwork Details
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Title: Allegory of the Planets and Continents
Artist: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, Venice 1696–1770 Madrid)
Date: 1752
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 73 x 54 7/8 in. (185.4 x 139.4 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1977
Accession Number: 1977.1.3
Learn more about this artwork
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Curator Andrea Bayer surveys a selection of The Met's Venetian paintings ahead of a series of talks she will give in February, Celebrating La Serenissima.
The Melody on the Canvas: Inspired by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Former High School Intern Sam explores how music can add to the experience of viewing art by evoking emotions that connect us to the artist behind the work.
Timeline of Art History
Essay
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770)
Essay
Venice in the Eighteenth Century
Museum Publications
The Wrightsman Pictures
The Wrightsman Collection. Vol. 5, Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture
"Tiepolo, Henry James, and Edith Wharton": Metropolitan Museum Journal, v. 33 (1998)
One Met. Many Worlds.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 6, Europe in the Age of Monarchy
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Spanish)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Russian)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Portuguese)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Korean)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Japanese)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Italian)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (German)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (French)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Chinese)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Arabic)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide
Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Looking to Connect with European Paintings: Visual Approaches for Teaching in the Galleries
Giambattista Tiepolo, 1696–1770
European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born before 1865: A Summary Catalogue
"Domenico Tiepolo: Drawings, Prints, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art": The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 54, no. 3 (Winter, 1996–1997)
"The Ca' Dolfin Tiepolos": The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 55, no. 4 (Spring, 1998)
Related Artworks
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- European Paintings
- Canvas
- Oil paint
- Paintings
- Sketches
- From Europe
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- From A.D. 1600–1800
Adoration of the Magi
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, Venice 1696–1770 Madrid)
ca. 1753 (?)
Shepherd with Two Magicians, from the Scherzi
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, Venice 1696–1770 Madrid)
ca. 1743–57
Chained Woman and Other Figures Regarding a Pyre of Bones, from the Capricci
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, Venice 1696–1770 Madrid)
1743
Half-dressed Nymph with two children, surrounded by four men, from the Scherzi
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, Venice 1696–1770 Madrid)
ca. 1743–50
Seated Man Turned Towards the Left Seen from Below
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, Venice 1696–1770 Madrid)
1696–1770
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European Paintings at The Met
The Met's celebrated European Paintings collection encompasses more than 2,500 works of art from the thirteenth through the early twentieth century.
