Tiepolo, Lorenzo

Tiepolo, Lorenzo. Venice (Italy), 08.08.1736 - Somosaguas (Madrid), 02.05.1776. Painter and engraver.

He was the youngest of ten children born to Giambattista Tiepolo and Cecilia Guardi. As a child, he assisted his father and his brother Giovanni Domenico in decorating the frescoes in the residence of the Prince-Bishop Karl Philipp von Greifenclau zu Vollraths, in Würzburg between 1750 and 1753. That year they returned to Venice, however Lorenzo maintained his friendship with the prince-archbishop.

From then onwards, he began to create his own works, as demonstrated by his various pastel portraits painted in those years, the most notable of which is a 1757 Portrait of Cecilia Guardi.

By 1761, Lorenzo was a member of the Venice Painters’ Guild. The following year, the Tiepolo family left for Spain to work on the paintings in the Royal Palace. Lorenzo assisted his father and brother, but he also painted a series of pastel portraits of the Prince of Asturias and the Infante Gabriel of Spain. He also started decorating a Chinese Room in the Royal Palace in Madrid and painted the vault of the Room of the Birds, in addition to carrying out other minor commissions in the same building. His file at the Royal Palace states that he did not receive a salary as he was a collaborator.

After their father’s death in 1770, the brothers Giovanni Domenico and Lorenzo went their separate ways. Giovanni returned to Venice, while Lorenzo remained in Madrid. Lorenzo continued in the service of the king Charles III, although he was unable to obtain the post of Chamber Painter (previously held by his father). He was commissioned to create fifteen pastel paintings (which he finally delivered in 1774) on everyday life in Madrid and religious motifs. Influenced to a great degree by Rosalba Carriera and Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, he painted numerous portraits throughout his life.

In 1773, Lorenzo married María Corradi, daughter of a wealthy Genoese bookseller who had settled in Madrid. That same year, he was also appointed a member of the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice. Throughout the 1970s he was involved in several lawsuits over debts, although his will indicates that he had a substantial estate. When his health began to deteriorate, he retired to an estate in Somosaguas around 1774, where he died two years later. He is buried in the parish church of Santa María Magdalena.

Source: Royal Academy of History (https://www.rah.es)