Study for "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" (for the Augustinian monastery at Diessen, Germany)
Historical Context
Study for The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian for the Augustinian monastery at Diessen, Germany, painted in 1739 and now in the Cleveland Museum, is a preparatory oil sketch for one of Tiepolo's altarpiece commissions in Bavaria. The painting demonstrates his working process — establishing composition, color, and lighting in fluid oil sketches before executing the finished work. Tiepolo's German commissions reflect the extensive patronage networks that connected Italian artists with Central European churches and palaces during the eighteenth century. These modelli are today valued for their spontaneous energy and the insight they provide into the creative process of one of the greatest painters in European art history.
Technical Analysis
The oil study shows Tiepolo's rapid compositional planning, with the saint's upward gaze and arching body creating a dynamic diagonal. The warm flesh tones contrast with cooler sky tones, and the arrows are rendered as strong linear accents.
Look Closer
- ◆The martyrdom scene combines earthly violence with heavenly promise — look for the contrast between the suffering below and the divine light or angels above.
Provenance
Sale, Munich, 1804, unsold and then transferred to the Zentralgemäldegalerie; Bayerischen Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich, deaccessioned and sold at auction; (Sale, Schloss Schleißheim, Augsburg, April 13-23, 1852, lot 16, sold to “Eberle”); Possibly Robert Eberle [1815-1860], Munich, probably by descent to a Vienna collector1; Collector, Vienna, sold to a “minor collector”1; “Minor collector,” Vienna, probably sold or consigned to Galerie Fröhlich1; (Galerie Fröhlich, Vienna, sold to Jacques Seligmann & Co.)1; (Jacques Seligmann & Co., New York, NY, probably sold to Dr. Max Kadisch)1; Probably Dr. Max Kadisch, Vienna, to Jacques Seligmann & Co.1; (Jacques Seligmann & Co., New York, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio Delia E. Holden and L.E. Holden Funds
