Il ciarlatano

Broadsheet 404x518 mm, etching 351x497 mm. Some minor marginal tears not affecting the etching, very well preserved.

The etching shows a crowd of onlookers gathered in a square by a charlatan improvising as a dentist depicted on a podium and from behind. In the crowd are Venetian masks, young and old people, commoners and gentlemen, with different expressions and postures, suggesting a lively and interactive atmosphere, while in the background are the profiles of some palaces.

Il ciarlatano, etched by Cristoforo dall'Acqua, is taken from a 1756 oil painting of the same name by Giandomenico Tiepolo, now in the ‘Francesc Cambò' collection of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcellona.

Cristoforo Dall'Acqua, son of Valentino and Aurelia Zorzè, came from a noble family. He worked in Bassano del Grappa as an engraver at the Remondini printing house. Around 1764, he moved to Venice, where he pursued a career as a chalcographer under the tutelage of Joseph Wagner (1706-1786). During this period, Wagner's workshop was frequented by several renowned Venetian etchers, including Giambattista Brustolon, Giovanni Volpato, Antonio Baratti, Bernardo Zilotti, and Giovanni Battista Piranesi. It was in this environment that Dall'Acqua learned the new French technique of engraving with etching and burin. He collaborated with Fabio Berardi, translated drawings into etchings by renowned artists such as Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi (1719-1790), Giacomo Ciesa (1733-1822), and Louis de Boulogne (1654-1733), and illustrated editions for Antonio Zatta.

Giandomenico Tiepolo, the third son of Giambattista Tiepolo and Cecilia Guardi (sister of the painters Francesco and Antonio), was born in Venice in 1727. He entered his father's workshop at a very young age and collaborated with him on several occasions in Venice, Vicenza, Würzburg, Brescia and Madrid, developing an autonomous expressiveness that would gradually manifest itself over the years. In Venice, he dedicated himself to the creation of canvases depicting religious or genre scenes, inspired by his father's models. Over time, however, his artistic interests shifted to subjects that more closely reflected everyday life. In 1757, Giambattista was commissioned to decorate the Villa Valmarana in Vicenza, while Giandomenico was entrusted with the entire Foresteria building. Within this commission, he created a series of frescoes depicting peasant life, the walks of the nobility, a Mondo Novo, and images of oriental life. In 1759, he began the decoration of the family villa in Zianigo di Mirano, interrupted by frequent trips to work in Udine, Strà and Madrid. In the latter, he, his father and his brother Lorenzo were commissioned by Charles III of Bourbon to paint the Glory of Spain in the Royal Palace. He then turned to printmaking, as evidenced by the publication of several editions between 1774 and 1778, in which his own engravings appeared alongside those of his father and brother. He also produced a considerable number of drawings. He then returned to his usual lifestyle, spending his last years at the villa in Zianigo, where he continued to paint and decorate the rooms for his own use. This work, therefore, represents his last artistic creation and a significant example of the daily life of his time.

Cf. Fondazione Federico Zeri Università di Bologna, Tiepolo Gian Domenico, Ciarlatano; Museu Nacional d'art de Catalunya, The Charlatan; F. Lodi, Dall'Acqua Cristoforo, in: “Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani”, vol. 31, 1985; Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, Giandomenico Tiepolo.

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