Provenance

Francis Capel-Cure

1854 - 1933

Explore selected works

We look up through an opening surrounded by a stone ledge, with clusters of people and clouds swirling into a blue sky up and away from us in this vertical, rectangular painting. From a distance, the scene looks like a complete illusion but up close, the people, clouds, and architecture are sketchily painted. The ledge running around the opening has a gold, oval medallion at each corner. Appearing to be carved from white stone, two bearded men with long hair recline against each medallion, flanking them to each side in front of large shells that curve up over the people and frames them. A few architectural structures extend up into the sky, including a pointed obelisk in the lower left corner, a pair of columns at the upper right, and what seems to be the mast of a ship at the top left. Most of the people have pale skin but some have more tan complexions, and a few, including those wearing feather headdresses near the upper left corner, have brown skin. The people wear windswept robes of pale, butter yellow, robin’s egg blue, rose pink, and ivory. The eye may drawn to a few vignettes, such as the man holding a rearing, chestnut-brown horse on the illusionistic ledge near the lower right, a nun wearing a white robe and holding a cross above him in the clouds, and, farthest away, a crowned person sitting on a throne.
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Wealth and Benefits of the Spanish Monarchy under Charles III, 1762, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1943.4.39

Wealth and Benefits of the Spanish Monarchy under Charles III

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo · 1762 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1943.4.39

This is a painting of a cherub with small wings hovering in the sky amidst swirling clouds. The sky is a soft blue with streaks of darker blue tones and a section of gray on the right. This cherub holds a circular object in one hand, perhaps a crown or a wreath, and a long, thin object in the other hand. Below, people appear to lie on the rocky, reddish-brown ground. We see them from the side, and their features are indistinct. On the left seem to be a man with a dark beard and another cherub holding an indistinct object, and on the right seem to be two women who lean towards each other. The brushstrokes in the painting are thick and visible.
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Study for a Ceiling with the Personification of Counsel, before c. 1762, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.100

Study for a Ceiling with the Personification of Counsel

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo · before c. 1762 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1939.1.100