The sixty-three oil sketches selected for this volume originally served various functions: some were models or preparatory studies for the eighteenth-century Venetian painter’s works, while others were presentation pieces created for a patron’s approval. Still others were intended as visual records, prepared by the artist and his shop to document both his models and his finished works. The style of these works found a growing public in Tiepolo’s lifetime, so much so that small-scale “sketches” were often commissioned works with no particular link to any larger project. Each of these categories is represented in this superbly illustrated book, complemented by a series of essays.
