Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, The Marriage of Frederick Barbarossa

In 1750 Giovanni Battista Tiepolo travelled to Würzburg in Germany, together with his sons Lorenzo and Domenico, to paint a series of frescoes in the Residenz, the archbishop’s palace. This painting is a small oil sketch after one of those scenes, probably made by his son Domenico.

It shows Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 to 1190, getting married to Beatrice of Burgundy. This painting doesn't reflect twelfth-century fashions, however – the setting and costumes are of a sixteenth-century style, and the figure of the emperor is based on Prince-Bishop Karl Philipp von Greiffenklau, who commissioned the fresco. Most of the surrounding figures gaze towards the bishop who conducts the ceremony, but not everyone is paying attention. A man on the right and a boy to the left look out of the picture, while a court jester climbs the steps towards a barking dog.

The series of fresco paintings formed part a spectacular scheme of interior decoration which aimed to show both the historical importance of the Emperor Frederick and the contemporary importance of the prince-bishops of Würzburg. The work remains part of the Kaisersaal, the imperial hall where plasterwork, fresco, mirrors and gilding combine to create an astonishing effect. The basic composition of Domenico’s painting is like that of the fresco, although the placement of some of the foreground figures is different. Unlike the regular oblong shape of the painting, the fresco is asymmetrical, and is seen as if revealed by a massive curtain made of stucco and gold leaf.

In both the sketch and finished fresco, the setting – with its arches, columns and viewing platform in the background – is highly fanciful but suitably grand. Battista was inventive in his use of space: the altar is viewed at a sharp angle and the foreground steps and the loggia in the background are brightly lit. In the sketch, the foreground figures are painted in rich colours – saturated reds, blue and gold – and the paint is thickly applied, while the colours in the fresco are paler and more monochrome, and the paint is thin and fluid. Further differences, like the throne carved with acanthus leaves at the bottom right and the dramatic fluttering drapery in the upper part, suggest that Domenico enjoyed making little variations to his father’s fresco.