0154

The present portrait is linked to the famous series of philosophers, orientals and wise men painted by Giambattista Tiepolo (1696-1770) and his sons Giandomenico and Lorenzo. The key document for this set of paintings is a series of etchings executed by Giandomenico in the years 1757-58, close to the date of origin of the prototypical paintings, but were only published from 1770 under the title "Raccolta di teste numero trenta dipinte Dal Sig.r Gio: Batta Tiepolo, Pittore Veneto…Incise da Gio. Domenico suo Figlio” in two volumes. It can be assumed that this overall project was of great common interest for the bustling and close-knit Tiepolo family workshop.
Many of Giandomenico's prints can be linked to specific models, prototypical paintings, or drawings. Various versions exist for the type of this old Oriental with the fur-trimmed cloak, lost in meditation, the best known of which is probably the one in the Rusconi Collection in Trieste. (Massimo Gemin/Filippo Pedrocco, Giambattista Tiepolo. Leben und Werk, Munich 1995, cat. no. 54) The present painting corresponds in the orientation to Giandomenico's etching, as well as in the compactness of the figure, which in our representation is enhanced by the horizontal expansion.