All Objects

The study on the recto, likely drawn from a model, was used for the central figure of Painting in the Triumph of the Arts and Sciences. The focus is on the soft shadows created by the light coming from the left and on the simple line of the contour of the figure's oval face. The study on the verso (upside down) is probably for the bust that Tiepolo placed next to the allegory of Sculpture in the final fresco.

Tiepolo took liberties with Ovid's Metamorphoses in showing Perseus riding the winged horse Pegasus instead of flying by way of a pair of winged sandals, as in the original text. At the bottom is the rock on which Andromeda was chained, with remnants of her shackles still attached to it. In the sea below is the dying monster, with Perseus's lance — which has shattered upon piercing its head — above its eye. To the left, and behind the rock, are five Nereids, crying, presumably for the death of the monster, as well as from the humiliation suffered because of Cassiopeia's comments. In the sky, Jupiter, accompanied by his eagle, welcomes a supplicating female figure seated on a cloud, presumably Cassiopeia herself, asking for her daughter to be spared. At the heart of the composition is Perseus, on Pegasus, flying through the sky and seizing Andromeda, who is naked and wearing her broken manacles. Around them is a glory of Cupids, celebrating the love between Perseus and Andromeda. Throughout the composition, small stars are visible. Most of the mythological figures in this scene — Perseus, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and Pegasus — were later transformed into constellations.

This canvas was cropped on all sides, somewhat more at the top and bottom. Like the Lisbon and Los Angeles sketches, the Frick canvas also once had the ocher outline of the shape of the final ceiling, which must have been cropped to make the sketch into a salable painting. Remnants of ocher are visible on the sides under the frame.

Tiepolo set this scene in the dwelling of the Sun, described by Ovid as decorated with high columns and resplendent in golden light. Two winged figures close the composition at top and bottom. Above is Saturn, the god of Time, swooping down from the sky, holding his scythe. On the ground, fast asleep, is Morpheus, god of slumber, accompanied by another winged, sleeping figure. To the right are the Four Seasons, precisely described in Ovid's text: Spring (Flora) with her flowers; Summer (Ceres), naked and with ears of wheat; Autumn (Bacchus) with grapes; and Winter with his frozen, white beard. Below them are two putti and sunflowers, plants usually associated with the sun and linked to the myth of Clytie, known for her love of the Sun god. On the opposite side, the Sun's impetuous horses are regimented by the Hours, who are tethering them to Apollo's chariot. The moment shown by Tiepolo is the granting of the request, after Apollo has tried, in vain, to dissuade his son from the dangerous enterprise. Holding a torch while standing in front of Apollo, Phaëton points with a rod toward the zodiac, where Scorpio is clearly visible, between Libra and Sagittarius. Bathed in golden light and crowned with laurel, Apollo holds a small urn, presumably the magical ointment used to protect his son's face from the rays of the sun.

Traditionally attributed to Tiepolo and linked to his frescoes at Palazzo Archinto, this drawing seems to be an independent work not directly related to the Milanese fresco cycle or the Los Angeles sketch. The quality of the drawing is inferior to that usually achieved by Tiepolo. It may have been executed by Francesco Zugno, who worked alongside Tiepolo on the Rerum Italicarum Scriptores in the early 1730s. The large size of the drawing suggests it may have been intended for the collectors' market.

This painting depicts the same episode that Tiepolo frescoed on one of the five ceilings of Palazzo Archinto. Apollo, draped in red, holds a small vase with the ointment that was to protect his son's face while driving the chariot of the Sun. A Cupid flies into the composition, bringing Apollo his lyre. In the background, to the right, are the Four Seasons. Below, the Hours and a Cupid tie the horses to the gold chariot, though here, with its large wheels, it is closer to a country buggy. In the distant background, to the right, is Morpheus, asleep, with a bat flying overhead. While in the other renderings of this scene, Tiepolo showed Phaëton asking his father to drive the chariot of the Sun, in this painting, Phaëton is on his way. He steps forward, naked, barely covered by a yellow drape, holding a torch. He clasps his father's right hand, as he kisses it in a tender gesture of gratitude. Time is between the figures of father and son and powerfully separates them. In the other two paintings, the scene is serene, but here Tiepolo adds a dramatic, somewhat tragic tone, redolent of looming death. The size of the canvas prompts the question of whether it can be considered a modello at all. It may simply have been an independent painting. The sketchy effect and the roughed-out areas of paint suggest that it was left unfinished by Tiepolo.

Antonio Gantelmi published this short poem as a wedding gift to Filippo Archinto and Giulia Borromeo, who married on April 22, 1731. He dedicated it to Carlo Archinto and Giovanni Borromeo, the fathers of the groom and bride. 

The second courtyard leads to the internal garden. A series of courtyards culminating in a garden was a common feature of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Milanese palazzos. The balcony over the second courtyard's arcade connected the family's rooms to the library.

Tiepolo provided delicate designs for a number of engravings by Francesco Zucchi for many of the volumes of Muratori's Rerum Italicarum Scriptores. One of the headpieces of volume 16 relates to the text it introduces: an anonymous account of the history of Milan. Tiepolo depicted the coronation of Emperor Henry VII as King of Italy, which took place in Milan on January 6, 1311. The original drawing for this print is also shown in the exhibition.

The preparatory drawings Tiepolo made to accompany the medieval texts collected by Muratori in Rerum Italicarum Scriptores represent scenes from Italian history. Many of the events depicted cannot be precisely identified, however, and on more than one occasion, the drawings are used multiple times, to illustrate different events.

One of the publications produced by the Società Palatina was the six-volume Opera Omnia, the collected works of the sixteenth-century historian Carlo Sigonio. The headpiece for the first volume — representing the triumph of an ancient Roman emperor as he is carried by his generals to a tent — is based on a drawing by Tiepolo.

This triumphal scene of Bacchus and Ariadne in a chariot drawn by panthers celebrates the encounter between the god of wine and the beautiful Ariadne, who had been abandoned on the island of Naxos by Theseus. The fresco likely referred to the wedding, in 1731, of Filippo Archinto and Giulia Borromeo.

This photograph taken before the 1943 bombing shows a detail of Bigari's Apotheosis of Romulus. Bigari depicted the mythical founder of Rome being presented to Jupiter by Mars. Around them are the gods who favored Rome, as well as those who opposed it. 

A large volume dedicated to the Archinto frescoes was compiled by Attilio Centelli and Gerardo Molfese and published in 1897. Included is a brief text on Tiepolo by Centelli and a series of fifty black-and-white illustrations. The Centelli and Molfese volume attributes all the Archinto frescoes to Tiepolo, but we now know that the Bolognese painter Vittorio Maria Bigari (1692–1776) painted three of them. The Apotheosis of Romulus, Bigari's largest fresco in the palazzo, decorated one of the rooms on the piano nobile.

After the bombing in August 1943, Palazzo Archinto remained abandoned and in ruins for a number of years. It was rebuilt between 1955 and 1967. Though the interiors of the palazzo were devastated by the bombing, photographs taken in the 1940s show that the overall architectural structure remained intact.