Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011071The Disrobing of Christ
About the Artwork
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, an important Venetian fresco painter of the 18th century, is best known today for his highly finished historical drawings that ingeniously incorporate details from daily life. This drawing, from a suite of more than 260 sheets known as the Large Biblical Series, depicts the Disrobing of Christ (the tenth Station of the Cross). A trio of patriarchs watch as Roman soldiers strip Jesus of his robe, a mob brews in the background, and over the lip of the hill, Roman soldiers trumpet the Crucifixion. The figure of Jesus, who glows with the stark white color of Domenico’s exposed paper, emerges simple and luminous from the chaos around him. His hammer-wielding executioner, emphasized with golden-brown wash, kneels before him—an ironic touch that implies the religious significance of Christ’s death. Domenico's signature technique, seen here, includes an underdrawing in black chalk or charcoal, contour lines drawn with a quill pen and brush, and modeling with a range of brown washes. His gestural, agitated lines evoke a strong sense of movement and emotional tension. The artist likely made the series for his own edification rather than for sale, as he kept the drawings during his lifetime and no prints were made.
Inscriptions
signed, lower left, in brown ink: Dom' Tiepolo f
Provenance
?-1869: Victor Luzarches [1803-1869], Tours, France. After 1869-?: Camille Rogier [1805-1893], Paris. 1993: (Christie's, New York, January 13, 1993, no. 62, sold.) 1993-?: (Stephen Mazoh & Co., Inc., New York.) ?-1999: Martin Kline [1961-], Rhinebeck, New York, sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Feb. 1999. 1999-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH.
Exhibition history
Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002). Domenico Tiepolo: A New Testament. Frick Collection, New York, NY (organizer) (October 24, 2006-January 7, 2007). Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 9-June 8, 2014).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (Italian, 1727–1804)
- Date
- c. 1785–90
- Medium
- pen and brown and black ink, brush and black, brown, and red-brown wash, over black chalk; framing lines in pen and brown ink
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 47.9 x 38.2 cm (18 7/8 x 15 1/16 in.); Image: 46.1 x 36.2 cm (18 1/8 x 14 1/4 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Accession no.
- 1999.5
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Open-access museum record · AT-00011071
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