Brief Biography-Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, the son of a marine merchant, was born in Venice in 1696. He received his first tuition from Gregorio Lazzarini when he was fourteen. His main influences of that period were Giovanni Piazzetta and Sebastiano Ricci. He was later to embellish his works with Veronese, Titian and Tintoretto atyles. He also took inspiration from Northern Masters such as Dürer and Rubens.
In 1717, the Fraglia, or Painters Guild, admitted him. Two years later, he married the sister of Francesco Guardi, and they were to have nine children. Two of his sons, Lorenzo, and Domenico, became painters and assisted Tiepolo with many works. His major fresco work began in 1725 when the archbishop of Udine commissioned paintings for his palace, culminating in much work throughout Italy. In the Palazzo Labia, he completed the Anthony and Cleopatra series in 1740.
In 1750, Prince-Bishop Karl Phillip von Greiffenklau summoned him to decorate the throne room of his palace at Würzburg, which also resulted in him painting the grand staircase. His two sons assisted him with the painting, and the works at the court, which took three years to complete, became his most triumphant project.
When Tiepolo returned to Venice, the Venetian Academy elected him as President. The King of Spain, Charles III, commissioned him to decorate the Royal Palace in Madrid which he hesitantly accepted. In 1762, Tiepolo went with Lorenzo and Dominico and spent four years painting ceilings; amongst them was the large throne room ceiling. He encountered jealous rivalry from Anton Raphael Mengs, a Court Painter to the King and an exponent of neoclassicism. To Tiepolo’s consternation, Mengs arranged to remove seven altarpiece paintings from Aranjuez, which the King had commissioned from him. Tiepolo died in Madrid in 1770. His son Domenico was more prominent than Lorenzo and achieved notable success doing frescoes.