Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770)
Trois Crayons Newsletter, 1 May 2025
Can we fool you? The term “fake” may be slightly sensationalist when it comes to old drawings. Copying originals and prints has formed a key part of an artist’s education since the Renaissance and with the passing of time the distinction between the two can be innocently mistaken.
Photo © The Courtauld
Photo © The Courtauld
One of these two drawings is a genuine work by the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770), the other is a forgery. Tiepolo skilfully used vigorous lines to endow his figures with energy, and employed wash judiciously, using blank areas of paper to great effect. He also modulated the tones of wash to effortlessly suggest variations in colour. Which one is the forgery? You can find the solution below.
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The original, of course, is the lower image.
Upper Image: Forgery in the manner of Tiepolo family, Two seated soldiers, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Lower Image: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770), Helmeted male head, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Helmeted male head is the genuine drawing by Tiepolo. It may be related to the head of Alexander the Great in his painting Alexander and Bucephalus. Tiepolo’s ink lines are simple and assured, restrained yet lively. The wash is applied sparingly to indicate areas of shade against the white highlights of the bare paper. The drawing of the Two seated soldiers was donated to The Courtauld in 2011 as a forgery for teaching purposes. In trying to imitate the energetic lines of Tiepolo, the forger has filled the page with frenzied zigzags. Many lines are heavy and smudged, in contrast to Tiepolo’s refined and confident strokes. The wash here is applied across large areas, lacking any comprehension of Tiepolo’s subtle mastery of light and shade.
This case study is an extract from Art and Artifice Fakes from the Collection 17 June – 8 Oct 2023 Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery and Project Space. For further examples of forgeries in the collection of the Courtauld Gallery and the stories of their detection, see the article.
