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

Apollo and the Continents (detail)

1752-53
Fresco
Stairwell of the Residenz, Würzburg

The portrait medallion of Carl Philipp von Greiffenclau is borne aloft above the personification of Europe. To the left, the goddess Fame sounds her trumpet and supports the likeness, while the winged personification of Virtue holds a crown over it. A griffin, the heraldic animal of the Greiffenclau family, can be seen at the bottom edge of the medallion. The flapping red imperial mantle, trimmed with ermine, emphasizes the ascension and the glory of the Prince-Bishop, as he soars up to the deities of Olympus visible in the background.