Venetian Old Man, from “Raccolta di teste”

Description

While Giovanni Battista Tiepolo used the etching medium to create original compositions, his son Giovanni Domenico used it largely to copy other works of art. Over a number of years, the latter etched a large series of heads of old men, derived from paintings and drawings or details of larger compositions by his father. This etching is based on a lost painting. Full of strong, dramatic contrasts of light and dark, this etched head presents an incisive character study.