Group of Figures

The culmination of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s activity as a fresco painter, and perhaps the greatest monument of the late Baroque, was the ceiling decoration of the reception room and the grand staircase in the archbishop’s palace at Würzburg (1750-53), near Frankfurt. The continuous composition and fluid calligraphy of this drawing are typical of his drawings around the time of the projects. The more delicate structure of the figures and extra rhythmic flourish, however, indicate the hand of his son Giandomenico, his principal assistant throughout the period.