Caricature of a Man Wearing an Overcoat
about 1753–1762
- Medium
- Pen and black ink and brush with gray wash
- Dimensions
- 21 × 14 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-209504
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo captured this man's flamboyant character with few lines. Thin strokes exaggerate his birdlike features, which include a nose that resembles a beak, spindly legs, and duck-toed feet. Fluid washes and pen lines are applied sparingly to his costume and puffy wig. The man seems oblivious to his ridiculous looks, an exaggeration that is typical of caricature--a comical style of portraiture. Leonardo da Vinci first sketched caricatures in the 1500s, and Italian artists centuries afterward furthered the genre. Working two hundred years after Da Vinci, Tiepolo drew caricatures like this funny-looking man in addition to the serious subjects for which he is known. He made these drawings as independent works of art, sometimes for his own amusement. His drawings cast anonymous people as stereotypes, such as lawyers, dandies, doctors, and hunchbacks.
Provenance
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Registry history
- about 1753–1762 — Recorded in the collection of J. Paul Getty Museum — drawings
Registered on Collect24
The identity of the collector is never published. Purchase information, documents and the exact location of the artwork remain private.
Ownership not yet verified on Collect24
This artwork is documented in the Global Art Registry, but no Collect24 account is linked to it as the owner. Claiming keeps this record and its Collect24 Art ID — nothing is created a second time.
Do you own or represent this artwork? Claim this artwork →Auction history
Public sale records matched to this work. Ownership is never disclosed.
Loading sale records…