Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Formerly attributed to Sebastiano Ricci, Cividal di Belluno 1659-1734 Venice.
An early work by the artist, redolent of the influence of his older contemporary Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, this finished drawing is related to a lost painting that Giambattista Tiepolo executed during the mid-1720s. The composition of the painting is recorded in an etching of 1726. Although the study corresponds to the etching in almost every detail, the apparent spontaneity of the underdrawings in black chalk suggests it is a preparatory sketch for--rather than a copy after-- the painting. --Exhibition Label, from "Tiepolo, Guardi, and Their World: Eighteenth-Century Venetian Drawings"