TIEPOLO, GIAMBATTISTA

TWO SAINTS (SAINT MAXIM AND SAINT OSVALD?)

This picture is linked with the work of Giambattista Tiepolo above the composition for the high altar in the Church of S. Massimo and S. Osvaldo in Padua (1742-1745).

A group of small compositions, which are sketches by the master and copies made in his workshop, is linked with this commission.

Provenance: according to the inscription on the reverse Giambattista Tiepolo gave this work to his son Giandomenico; after his death the architect Gian Antonio Selva acquired it from the artist's widow and Giacomo Quarengi sent it to Russia; it was in the collection of I.S.Ostoukhov (Moscow) till 1918; acquired by the Pushkin Museum from N.I.Ostoukhova (Moscow) in 1931.