Balloons 4 Retirement

When I came over Sunday afternoon, Mabel and her mother were whispering about something. Only after my daughter had left on her errands did Mabel go into her room and bring forth the magnificent bunch of Happy Retirement balloons pictured here. It was her own idea that balloons were the best way to make a fuss for me about my Happy Retirement. And she was right about that.

Two Roman Soldiers

Two Roman Soldiers Amid Ruins

Flight into Egypt, the boat guided by an Angel
Estate of Mrs. Vincent Astor

This represents the final (ravishing) group of wash drawings by Giambattista Tiepolo (1696-1770) from the collections of the Morgan Library in New York. My favorite of all is the Flight into Egypt above, recently bequeathed to this public collection by that famous patron of libraries, Brooke Astor.

Holy Family

Holy Family

Three Angels

God the Father carried by Angels

Tiepolo would never be one to shy away from a subject because of its incomprehensible grandeur. Above, he draws a dense mob of levitating angels transporting a stiffly upright God the Father (with three-pointed halo).

The Angel at the Tomb

Punchinello & His Lady

Punchinello & His Lady

Punchinello leaning against a Bust

Theatrical characters, indefinable exotics,sages, heroes, demigods – the familiar companions of Giambattista Tiepolo (1696-1770).

These otherworldly and vaguely sinister wash drawings by Tiepolo are part of a large collection now housed at the Morgan Library in New York.

 

Steep Perspective

The wash drawing above by Giambattista Tiepolo (1696-1770) depicts an armored warrior seated aloft and viewed from directly below in extremely steep perspective.

A second scenic warrior with drawn scimitar (below) represents a similar idea, but visible from a marginally less neckbreaking angle. Additional sky dwellers follow. Collectively, they carry on an airborne existence only to be envied by those rooted to the unyielding surface of the earth.

These Tiepolo drawings, like other recent groups, are preserved at the Morgan Library in New York, including the overall ceiling plan directly above which offers a rough idea of how and where this population of eccentric entities was eventually disposed and exploited.

On Clouds

Wash drawings of the figures who live in the clouds, or better to say wash drawings of those who were living in the clouds in the middle of the 18th century when their likenesses were set down by Italian ceiling painter Giambattista Tiepolo (1696-1770).

From collections at the Morgan Library.