Tiepolo and the Pictorial

Tiepolo is a brilliant example of the specifically pictorial intelligence. This book is both a study of his art and an argument for fuller recognition of the peculiarities of the painters´ representational medium. Svetlana Alpers and Michael Baxandall locate distinctive modes of Tiepolo´s representation of the world and human action; follow his process of invention from first pen drawings through small oil-sketches to great frescoes; and analyze his best and biggest painting, the Four Continents, in the Stairway Hall of the Prince-Bishop´s Residence at Wurzburg, which is illustrated with photographs specially taken for the book.