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

The Banquet of Cleopatra (detail)

1743-50
Fresco
Palazzo Labia, Venice

On the one hand, the musicians on the balcony in the background are an extension of the banqueting scene. Yet, like the fictive architecture, they could just as well be part of the courtly celebrations taking place in the Palazzo Labia itself. They belong to the group of figures used by Tiepolo to establish a connection between the historical representations and the real world of the viewer.