136 - Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Six Figures Observing a Snake. 1750–1757. Etching. 225 × 177 mm. Sheet: 247 × 197 mm. De Vesme, 24. Rizzi, 15. Succi, 59. Signed on the reverse of the plate in the lower left corner. Twelfth plate from *Scherzi di fantasia*, a series of etchings created by Giovanni Battista during the 1750s and comprising twenty-three plates, including the title page plate. The twenty-fourth plate, mentioned in the inscription added to the title page after 1770, is the small one depicting St. Joseph with the Infant Jesus (De Vesme, 2). The creation of the twenty-four etchings can be dated more precisely to between 1743 and 1757; these are listed in the Catalog of Various Works Conceived by the Famous Gio. Batta Tiepolo in the Service of His Majesty the King, who died in Madrid on March 27, 1770, and 25 of them were engraved by him, while the others were engraved by his sons Giandomenico, and Lorenzo, owned by Giandomenico himself along with other works of his own—compiled by his son in four successive editions—were published under the title *Scherzi di fantasia*. The themes depicted in the prints are those typical of the “capriccio”—evocative, enigmatic, purely invented, and imbued with a sense of the occult, magic, and mystery. An excellent proof in the first state, two states prior to the appearance of the number in the upper right corner, on Venetian laid paper without a watermark. (1) Sheet with margins of 8/10 mm beyond the edge of the copperplate. Slight trace of a transverse fold in the upper right corner and a brown stain at the bottom center. Minimal paper residue on the reverse.