Object number1934.3
Time Seated Clutching a Putto (aka Chronos Devouring his Child)
Datec. 1750
Artist
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
(Italian, 1696-1770)
CultureItalian
MediumBrown ink and wash over traces of pencil on antique laid tan paper
DimensionsSheet: 8 7/8 x 11 9/16 in. (22.54 x 29.37 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase
On View
Not on viewPeriod18th c
Classification(s)
SignedNot signed or dated
BibliographyPhagan, Patricia. “Drawings at Vassar to ‘Illustrate the Loftiest Principles and Refine the Most Delighted Hearts.’” Master Drawings 42, no. 2 (2004): 133–44. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1554650. p. 137;
Mundy, James, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center: Vassar College The History and Collection (New York: Prestel Publishing, 2007), p. 54 repr.Exhibition HistoryPoughkeepsie, NY, FLLAC, Vassar College, "An Exhibition in Memory of Agnes Rindge Claflin 1900-1977," April 30 - June 4, 1978.DescriptionPrimarily described in a mixture of thick and thin brown washes, this draw- ing is one of a series of studies made by Tiepolo in preparation for his fres- coed ceiling in the Palazzo Clerici, Milan. It entered the collection in 1934, making it another Baroque acquisition made early in the period when American museums were taking an interest in the Baroque. Tiepolo was a master of economy in his drawings, being able to suggest a state of mind or an emotion with a brisk coating of wash. For example, on this sheet, the washes used to create the putto’s eyes and mouth suggest, with just a few blots of ink, that it is crying. Time’s somewhat demonic smile is also suggested in this manner. The drawing is one of a number in the same style featuring Time as the subject. Others are in the Metropolitan Museum and the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum, New York.
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