A
Venetian artist, lived 1696-1770. He represented the high-point of eighteenth-century Italian
painting. Also known as Giambattista Tiepolo, he worked mainly in
Venice but was well known throughout Europe: he declined an offer to decorate the royal court in
Stockholm because the price was too low.
He trained under Gregorio Lazzarini, a history painter, but soon moved away from the darker, more formal style, and developed a free fresco style in bright colours and a theatrical perspective.
In 1750-53 he decorated the Kaisersaal and Archbishop's palace in Würzburg, works which are regarded as his masterpieces. The final eight years of his life were spent in Madrid, including decorating the royal palace there. Many of his works are now in the Prado.
His sons Giandomenico (1727-1804) and Lorenzo were also artists, the former especially good, and assisted their father in some of his later work.