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

Maecenas Presenting the Liberal Arts to Emperor Augustus

1743
Oil on canvas, 70 x 89 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

This painting was originally a gift to the major collector Heinrich Brühl, the powerful prime minister of Elector Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, also King Augustus III of Poland. In presenting an ancient example of patronage of the arts, Tiepolo was extolling one of the characteristics of an enlightened monarchy.




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