England, Tiepolo drawing found in castle ceiling

A drawing by Giambattista Tiepolo (Venice, 1696 - Madrid, 1770) depicting a group of Punchinello has been found in England: the work was in the attic of Weston Hall Castle, belonging to the Sitwell family, which had purchased the work in 1936 at a Christie’s auction. However, the descendants of Osbert Sitwell, the aristocrat who had bought the drawing, had no idea where it ended up. The drawing, done in pen, ink, and gouache, will now be put up for auction by the English house Dreweatts, during the Weston Hall and the Sitwells: A Family Legacy sale, scheduled for Nov. 16 and 17, 2021, with an estimate of £150-200,000. The drawing was discovered during the very process of cataloguing the assets the family had decided fto sell at auction.

The work features a group of Punchinello, the popular 17th-century commedia dell’arte character who so fascinated Tiepolo, to the point that the artist dedicated several of his works to Punchinello: some of them show groups of Punchinello preparing and eating gnocchi, and often suffering from the ... excesses associated with this activity. The subject is related to a popular festival that used to take place in Verona (and still takes place!) on the last Friday of carnival: this is the Friday gnocolar, an event that has been held since ancient times (the first edition in today’s formula dates as far back as 1531). During the festival a mask of the Veronese carnival, the Papà del Gnoco, holds a big fork with a large dumpling (a similar but small one is seen held by one of the Pulcinellas) and distributes dumplings to the poor in the San Zeno district during a parade.

“Tiepolo,” explained Brandon Lindberg, head of Dreweatts painting department, “is known for his large works in churches and palaces, but he was fascinated by the character of Punchinello and drew this subject throughout his career. This drawing is one of the largest and most detailed he has produced. The example that most compares to this one went to auction in New York in 2013 for $542,500.” The drawing will be on display before the sale at Dreweatts’ headquarters in Donington, Berkshire (about 70 miles from London), Nov. 10-15.

England, Tiepolo drawing found in castle ceiling

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