Artwork
Standing Man in Sixteenth-Century Costume

Standing Man in Sixteenth-Century Costume is an ink drawing by the Baroque artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. It dates from 1733 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1733, the drawing titled *Standing Man in Sixteenth-Century Costume* is executed in pen and brown ink with a brown wash on laid paper. It is attributed to Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, a leading figure of the eighteenth‑century Venetian school.
Subject & Meaning
The image presents a solitary male figure dressed in clothing that references the sixteenth century, reflecting Tiepolo’s recurring fascination with historical costume and theatrical presentation.
Technique & Style
Tiepolo employs fine pen work combined with a subtle brown wash, allowing tonal variation across the laid paper surface. The handling of line and wash aligns with the lightness and decorative qualities associated with the Rococo aesthetic that characterized his broader oeuvre.
History & Provenance
The drawing originates from a period when Tiepolo was active across Italy, Germany, and Spain, contributing to the diffusion of Venetian artistic practices. Its survival on paper suggests it may have served as a study or preparatory sketch for larger compositions.
Context
Within the Venetian artistic milieu of the early eighteenth century, Tiepolo worked alongside other prominent painters, reinforcing the city’s reputation for sophisticated, courtly art that blended narrative drama with elegant surface treatment.
Artist & collection
Artist
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, also known as Giambattista Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school.












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