TIEPOLO, Giovanni Battista
(b. 1696, Venezia, d. 1770, Madrid)

View of the west wall

1743-50
Fresco
Palazzo Labia, Venice

The two dramatically staged wall paintings on the west wall (The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra) and the east wall (The Banquet of Cleopatra) present two significant scenes from Plutarch's life of Mark Antony. The walls predominate visually over the ceiling painting not only because of their figural compositions, but also because of the magnificent architecture painting by Girolamo Mengozzi Colonna. It is the depth of the architectural scenery that accounts for the grandiose effect of the two scenes.

The picture shows the west wall with The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra.