In 1757, Tiepolo and his son Giandomenico were invited to Vicenza to fresco rooms in the modestly scaled Palazzina in the Villa Valmarana ai Nani and in the adjoining guest quarters, the so-called 'foresteria'. Their patron was Count Giustino Valmarana (1688-1757), a scholar and theater enthusiast. The villa takes the name "ai nani" ("of the dwarfs") from the travertine figures set up in the garden, which portrays in the fashion of the time the different social classes in the form of grotesquely deformed dwarfs.

Tiepolo frescoed the vestibule (portego) and four ground-floor rooms of the villa (the Palazzina), while his son executed the decoration in the adjacent guest house (the Foresteria). In addition to the frescoes in the Foresteria, Giovanni Domenico also painted figural elements in the Palazzina, in part after his father's design, in part on his own. As for the large-figure scenes, there was apparently no strict division of labour between the Palazzina and the Foresteria. The elder Tiepolo painted one room in the Foresteria, and his son was drafted to paint specific figures in the Palazzina. Despite his considerable share in the painting and its originality, Giandomenico remained in his fathers's shadow.

Giandomenico's lively genre scenes featuring peasants and merchants were intended to form a marked contrast with Giambattista's noble and tragic themes in the Villa, borrowed from famous works of Greek, Roman, and Italian literature. The Iliad of Homer (c. 750-650 BC), the Aeneid of Virgil (70-19 BC), Orlando furioso by Ariosto (1474-1533) and Gerusalemme liberata by Tasso (1544-1595) were the sources for the different scenes which, because of the small, almost intimate proportions of the rooms, are narrated with a certain simplicity and using a limited number of figures.

The characteristic element of the frescoes in the Villa Valmarana is the way in which the representations have been conceived as theatrical scenes, in which the various heroes act as if on the stage.

Preview	Picture Data	Info
	View of the portego 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	The Sacrifice of Iphigenia 1757 Fresco, 350 x 700 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	The Sacrifice of Iphigenia (detail) 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	The Sacrifice of Iphigenia (detail) 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	The Sacrifice of Iphigenia (detail) 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	The Sacrifice of Iphigenia (detail) 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Soldiers between columns 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Soldiers between columns (detail) 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	The Greek Fleet in Aulis 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	View of the room of Homer 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Eurybates and Talthybios Lead Briseis to Agamemmon 1757 Fresco, 300 x 280 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Eurybates and Talthybios Lead Briseis to Agamemmon (detail) 1757 Fresco, 300 x 280 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Eurybates and Talthybios Lead Briseis to Agamemmon 1757 Fresco, 300 x 280 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	The Rage of Achilles 1757 Fresco, 300 x 300 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Thetis Consoling Achilles 1757 Fresco, 300 x 200 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Landscape with Cupid 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Landscape with Cupid (detail) 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	View of the room of Ariosto 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	View of the room of Ariosto 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Orlando Rescues Angelica from a Monster 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Orlando Rescues Angelica from a Monster 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Angelica Carving Medoro's Name on a Tree 1757 Fresco, 320 x 160 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Angelica Carving Medoro's Name on a Tree 1757 Fresco, 320 x 160 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Angelica and Medoro with the Shepherds 1757 Fresco, 250 x 250 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Angelica and Medoro with the Shepherds 1757 Fresco, 250 x 250 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Angelica and Medoro with the Shepherds (detail) 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Angelica Nurses Medoro's Wounds 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Angelica Nurses Medoro's Wounds (detail) 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	View of the room of Virgil 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Venus Appearing to Aeneas on the Shores of Carthage 1757 Fresco, 230 x 180 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Venus Appearing to Aeneas on the Shores of Carthage 1757 Fresco, 230 x 180 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Aeneas Introducing Cupid Dressed as Ascanius to Dido 1757 Fresco, 230 x 240 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Aeneas Introducing Cupid Dressed as Ascanius to Dido 1757 Fresco, 230 x 240 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Aeneas Introducing Cupid Dressed as Ascanius to Dido (detail) 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Aeneas Introducing Cupid Dressed as Ascanius to Dido (detail) 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Mercury Appearing to Aeneas 1757 Fresco, 230 x 145 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Mercury Appearing to Aeneas (detail) 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	The Sorceress Armida Spies on the Sleeping Rinaldo 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Rinaldo and Armida in the Magic Garden 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Rinaldo and Armida in the Magic Garden 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Rinaldo's Companions Hold the Magic Mirror up to His Face 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Rinaldo Abandoning Armida 1757 Fresco, 220 x 310 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Rinaldo Abandoning Armida 1757 Fresco, 220 x 310 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Rinaldo Abandoning Armida (detail) 1757 Fresco, 220 x 310 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Apollo and Diana 1757 Fresco, 200 x 185 cm Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Mars, Venus, and Amor 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Jupiter 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Chronos 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Mercury 1757 Fresco Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza
	Design for Apollo c. 1757 Pencil, wash over black crayon, 207 x 163 mm Victoria and Albert Museum, London