143 - VENETIAN PAINTER, FIRST HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY

VENETIAN PAINTER, FIRST HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY SCIPIO AFRICANUS LIBERATES MASSIVA Oil on canvas, 45.5 × 31.5 cm. Gilded and lacquered wooden frame. The painting depicts the episode of Scipio Africanus freeing Massiva, taken from the account by Titus Livius. The composition is derived from the famous *Scipio Africanus Frees Massiva* painted by Giambattista Tiepolo around 1719–1721, now in the collection of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. However, the artist does not faithfully reproduce Tiepolo’s monumental original but offers a free and original reinterpretation in a vertical format, altering the arrangement of the figures and emphasizing the theatrical quality of the architecture. The lively brushwork, the brilliant color palette, and the dynamic rendering of the figures reflect the Venetian artistic tradition of the second quarter of the 18th century, within the context of history painting that developed in the wake of Sebastiano Ricci and the young Tiepolo. CONDITION REPORT Recent re-framing. Minor retouching on the sky, the architecture, the figures on the right, and the floor. The painting is in good condition.