Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo

1736 Venice – 1776 Madrid

Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo was the younger brother of Giandomenico Tiepolo. Relatively little is known about Lorenzo's short life. He was trained in the workshop of Giambattista Tiepolo. At the age of fourteen he followed his dominating father to Würzburg, where he may have assisted him in the execution of the frescoes of the archbishop's residence. In 1761 Lorenzo's name appears in the Venetian painter's guild. In the following year Lorenzo left forever his native town of Venice and went with his father and brother to the court in Madrid. A full study of Lorenzo's artistic achievement has yet to be made. He is said to have been active in the Spanish capital as a portraitist and painter of daily life and gained some fame with his pastel portraits of the royal family. He never was appointed court painter. Lorenzo's small printed oeuvre, consisting of ten sheets, shows that he was a surprisingly skilled and sensitive master.