Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009766Sketch for a Ceiling
About the Artwork
This small, quickly painted picture is typical of the sketches Tiepolo made as studies for larger compositions. When completed full-scale on a ceiling, works like these give the impression of a massive window, through which one can see angels or mythological beings floating among the clouds. Although we know from the work's shape that it was a study for a ceiling painting, it is not related to any of Tiepolo's finished architectural decorations. Tiepolo used such sketches to explore design problems, experiment with form and color, or give his clients an idea of how a finished project would look. With the help of a large workshop, which included two of his sons, Tiepolo completed a number of painted ceilings and decorative schemes across Europe.
Provenance
1858: Miner K. Kellogg (1814-1889), Paris 1884: Mrs. Liberty E. Holden 1916: Holden Collection 1858 Miner K. Kellogg, 1814-1889 (Paris, France) 1884-1916 Mrs.Liberty E. Holden (Cleveland, Ohio), by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1916.
Exhibition history
Inaugural Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (June 6-September 20, 1916). Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9-December 2, 1934). The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936). The Tiepolos: Painters to Princes and Prelates. Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL (organizer) (January 8-February 19, 1978); Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, OH, Springfield, OH (March 19-May 7, 1978). Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 19-March 23, 1980).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, 1696–1770)
- Date
- 1750s
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 51.5 x 43 x 6.5 cm (20 1/4 x 16 15/16 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 41 x 34 cm (16 1/8 x 13 3/8 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Holden Collection
- Accession no.
- 1916.780
More by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009766
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