



The Glorification of the Barbaro Family, ceiling decoration, ca. 1750
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, Venetian, 1696–1770)
Oil on canvas
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, Venetian, 1696–1770)
Oil on canvas
Irregular oval, 96 x 183 3/4 in. (243.8 x 466.7 cm)
Anonymous Gift, in memory of Oliver H. Payne, 1923 (23.128)
This light-filled composition was painted about 1750 to decorate a ceiling in a room of the Palazzo Barbaro, Venice. The Barbaro were among the most illustrious Venetian families and it is to them that the male figure of Valor accompanied by a lion alludes. Behind Valor is Fame blowing her trumpet and holding an olive branch, and behind the lion is Abundance, with a cornucopia. At the lower left are Prudence, with a snake, and Nobility, holding a statuette of Minerva.
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