Spain, Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias acquires six works related to Lorenzo Tiepolo

An important acquisition for the Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias in Oviedo (Spain), which has been exhibiting six pastels related to the production of Lorenzo Tiepolo (Venice, 1736 - Somosagua, 1776) since last Tuesday in Room 4 of its premises in Palacio de Velarde, which has just arrived. Lorenzo Tiepolo, son of Giambattista Tiepolo with whom he completed his training, is a painter with close ties to Spain, since it was in this country that his career had a chance to develop.

Lorenzo Tiepolo, a preeminent figure of 18th-century Venice, brother of Giandomenico (also a great painter), was already collaborating with his father in the Würzburg Residence at the age of 15. Returning to his hometown in 1757, he left again after a few years: in 1762, at the age of twenty-six, he left Venice for good to move to Spain, again following his father, after being called by King Charles III, who commissioned Giambattista to decorate the ceiling of the throne room of the New Royal Palace in Madrid. While his father worked on the frescoes, Lorenzo started a successful business as a portrait painter specializing in pastel, with Charles III’s children being the first models to pose for him. The pastel technique, which combines drawing and painting, at that time did not enjoy the prestige of other techniques, such as painting, but was just beginning to develop (it was in Venice that it was taken to the highest levels by Rosalba Carriera). However, having long been considered a minor art, despite the young Tiepolo’s impeccable mastery his art was not particularly appreciated, which is why he was not granted the title of court painter, despite having applied for it on several occasions. Today, however, Lorenzo Tiepolo enjoys esteem among specialists and his figure has been fully reevaluated.

The artist also produced a series of “portraits of popular Spanish types” of great charm and originality, among the most singular and famous works of his production. The Museo de Bellas Artes has acquired six copies of these portraits, made by a pupil of Tiepolo himself in the late 18th century. According to the museum, this is a very interesting nucleus, which comes through the legacy left to the museum by Mrs. María Dolores Fuente González, widow of Eugenio Rodríguez Pascual, Marquis of Valdecilla y Pelayo. Mrs. Fuente, who was born in Trubia on April 28, 1917 and passed away in Madrid on March 14, 2021, lived in Oviedo for many years and was proud to be an Asturian although she later moved to Madrid, a circumstance that led her to donate these works to the Museum in her region.

Spain, Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias acquires six works related to Lorenzo Tiepolo

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