+ Expand

Artist or Maker: Giandomenico Tiepolo (Venice 1727-1804)

+ Expand

Provenance: The Benedictine Abbey, Schwarzach, 1754 until after 1803.
Acquired by the present owner for the proposed 'Gubener Kunst-und Gemäldesammlung', Guben, December 1942 and sent for restoration to the Nationalgalerie, Berlin.
Transferred from the Nationalgalerie, East Berlin, to the Bode Museum, East Berlin, on 21 June 1962;
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin (Fremdbesitz inventory number Gu1);
Restituted to the present owner in 2006.

+ Expand

Exhibited: Berlin, Gemäldegalerie, 1998-2006.
Würzburg, Residenz, Der Himmel auf Erden. Tiepolo in der Residenz Würzburg, February-May 1996.

+ Expand

Literature: J.G. Meusel, Miscellaneen artistischen Inhalts, Erfurt, 1779, p. 46.
E. Sack, Giambattista und Domenico Tiepolo, Hamburg, 1910, p. 308. M. Precerrutti-Garberi, 'Asterischi sull'attività di Domenico Tiepolo a Wurzburg', Commentari, 1960, XI, pp. 267-83.
H. Muth, 'Die Künstlerische Ausstattung der Neumann-Kirche zu Münsterschwarzach', Studia Suarcazensia, 1963, pp. 242-3.
M. Precerrutti-Garberi, 'Segnalazioni tiepolesche', Commentari, 1964, III-IV, p. 246.
A. Mariuz, Giandomenico Tiepolo, Venice, 1971, pp. 154-5, as lost. A. Mariuz, 'La "lapidazione di Santo Stefano" di Domenico Tiepolo ritrovata', Arte Veneta, 1978, XXXII, pp. 412-7.
M. Santifaller, 'L'abbazia di Münsterschwarzach in Franconia e le pale del'altare dei Tiepolo', Arte Veneta, 1978, XXXII pp. 405-11. G. Knox, Giambattista and Domenico Tiepolo: A Study and Catalogue Raisonné of the chalk drawings, Oxford, 1980, I, p. 316, no. P.239 E. Schneider, Die barocke benediktinerabteikirche Münsterschwarzach, Neustadt/Aisch, 1984, fig. 154.
G. Knox, Giambattista Piazzetta, Oxford, 1992, p. 155.
J. Mahr, 'Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo: Steinigung des HI Stephanus. Zur Wiedergewinnung eines Gemäldes aus der Balthasaar Neumann-Basilika von Münsterschwarzach', Mainfränkisches Jahrbuch für Geschicte und kunst, 1996, XLVIII, p. 85.
P.O. Krückman, in the catalogue of the exhibition 'Der Himmel auf erden. Tiepolo in Würzburg', Munich, 1996, I, p. 132.
I. Geismeier, Dokumentation des Fremdbesitzes. Verzeichnis der in der Galerie eingelagerten Bilder unbekannter Herkunft, Gemäldegalerie, Staatllichemuseen zu Berlin Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, 1999, pp. 40-2, fig. 44.

+ Expand

Notes: Giandomenico Tiepolo.

THE PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR

The present painting was commissioned by Abbot Christoph Balbus for the Benedictine Abbey church at Schwarzach. Built by Balthasar Neumann, it was one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical architecture in Germany, although it was later destroyed between 1824-1841.

Unlike his contemporaries who patronised local artists, Balbus chose to decorate the abbey with paintings from the Venetian school. In 1746, he acquired Giambattista Piazzetta's Adoration of the Shepherds (formerly Wurzburg Cathedral, destroyed in 1945) to hang in the fourth chapel on the left and in 1753 he commissioned Gaimbattista Tiepolo's Adoration of the Magi, now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, to hang above the main altar. By the time Gian Domenico had left for Venice the following year, he had been commissioned to paint an altarpiece as a pendant to his father's picture, although the subject had yet to be determined. In a letter dated February 1, 1754, Gian Domenico, openly asks for details about the subject and dimensions of the work he had committed to (see the catalogue of the exhibition Miniature, Libri, Autografi e Disegni, Libreria antiquaria Hoepli, Milan, 1962, no. 21). On February 14, the Abbot answered saying that the altarpiece should portray Saint Stephen's Martyrdom as described in chapter VII of The Acts of the Apostles and listed all the details to be included: Christ's apparition, the moment the saint passed away and the persecutor's rage.

Gian Domenico scrupulously followed these instructions and the resulting canvas was his most ambitious and dramatic work to date, marking a major leap forward in his development. While he re-used motifs such as the angel swooping downwards holding the palm and crown of martyrdom and Saint Stephen's outstretched hands, both borrowed directly from Giambattista's Martyrdom of Saint John of Bergamo (Duomo, Bergamo), in other respects, Gian Domenico's work differs markedly from that of his father. For the sake of dramatic impact, he placed the monumental figures in the immediate foreground and increased the level of pathos in the gestures and facial expressions to the highest level of intensity.

Soon after he had completed the painting, Gian Domenico made an etching based on the picture. For a long time this was the sole surviving record of the altarpiece, which following the demolition of the Schwarzach abbey, remained lost until 1978, when it was rediscovered in the storeroom of the Gemäldegalerie, East Berlin.

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.