The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Sketch for a Ceiling

Sketch for a Ceiling

1750s
(Italian, 1696–1770)
Italy, 18th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 51.5 x 43 x 6.5 cm (20 1/4 x 16 15/16 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 41 x 34 cm (16 1/8 x 13 3/8 in.)
Holden Collection 1916.780
Location: not on view

Description

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 look. With the help of a large workshop, which included two of his sons, Tiepolo completed a number of painted ceilings and decorative schemes across Europe.
  • 1858
    Miner K. Kellogg (1814-1889), Paris
    1884
    Mrs. Liberty E. Holden
    1916
    Holden Collection
    1858 Miner K. Kellogg, 1814-1889 (Paris, France)
    1884-1916 Mrs.Liberty E. Holden (Cleveland, Ohio), by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1916.
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Reproduced: p. 424; Mentioned: p. 425
    Rubinstein-Bloch, Stella. Catalogue of a Collection of Paintings, Etc. Presented by Mrs. Liberty E. Holden to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1917. Mentioned: p. 35-36, cat. no. 38 archive.org
    Johnson, Mark M. Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980. Referenced: cat. no. 85, p 69, Reproduced
  • Oberlin, OH, Allen Memorial Art Museum, October 29-December 15, 1991: "Artin the Age of Mozart,"
    Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 19-March 23, 1980).
    The Tiepolos: Painters to Princes and Prelates. Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL (organizer) (January 8-February 19, 1978); Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, OH, Springfield, OH (March 19-May 7, 1978).
    Birmingham, Alabama, Museum of Fine Art, 1978: "The Tiepolos, Painters to Princes and Prelates," ct. no. 22, illus. p. 79; Springfield (Mass.) Museum of Fine Arts,
    The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936).
    CMA, 1936: "The Twentieth Anniversry Exhibition," cat. no. 37.
    CMA, 1936: "The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition" cat. no. 108.
    Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9-December 2, 1934).
    Inaugural Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (June 6-September 20, 1916).
    CMA, 1916: "The Inaugrual Exhibition of CMA," cat. no. 37.
    Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1912: "Loan Exhibition of the Holden Collection," catalogue: Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, vII, no.10 (October 1912), cat. no. 26 (author, bryson Burroughs).
  • {{cite web|title=Sketch for a Ceiling|url=false|author=Giovanni Battista Tiepolo|year=1750s|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.780