Frescoes in the Villa Valmarana ai Nani in Vicenza (1757)
by Giovanni Domenico TIEPOLO

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.

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Mondo Novo
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Mondo Novo
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Charlatan
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Charlatan
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Painted staircase
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Painted staircase (detail)
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


View of the Gothic Pavilion
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Winter Stroll
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Winter Stroll
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Summer Stroll
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Summer Stroll
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Summer Stroll (detail)
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


The Declaration of Love
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Peasant Woman with a Basket of Eggs
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Peasant Woman with a Basket of Eggs
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Peasants at Rest
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Peasants at Rest
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Family Meal
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Family Meal
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Family Meal (detail)
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Two Peasant Women on the Way to Market
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Two Peasant Women on the Way to Market
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


View of the Camera Cinese
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Offering of Fruits to Moon Goddess
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Offering of Fruits to Moon Goddess
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Offering of Fruits to Moon Goddess (detail)
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


The Mandarin's Walk
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Exotic Figures
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza


Flying Amor with Arrows
1757
Fresco
Villa Valmarana ai Nani, Vicenza



Paintings by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
Various paintings | Frescoes at Zianigo
Frescoes in the Villa Valmarana ai Nani



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