Frescoes in the Palazzo Labia in Venice (1746-47)

One of the most important commissions carried out by Tiepolo in the 1740s was, without a doubt, the decoration of the Palazzo Labia in Venice. The Labia family were of Spanish origin and had only recently joined the Venetian patriciate. Tiepolo's frescoes reflect the family's great desire to create an impression: they are the greatest secular decoration he ever produced in Venice.

The great hall of the palace, which rises up two storeys, is entirely covered by frescoes, which Tiepolo executed in collaboration with Girolamo Mengozzi Colonna, the quadratura specialist. The walls of the room have been opened up by an illusionistic simulated architecture, into which the real doors and windows have been integrated. In this way, a multi-layered system of fictive interior and exterior spaces has been created, supported by a massive architectural framework of multicoloured painted marble. Tiepolo's scenes, The Meeting of Anthony and Cleopatra and The Banquet of Cleopatra, are staged within this illusory architecture, the scenic framework lending them a theatrical character.

Tiepolo's method of representation, characterized by wit and irony, is enriched by many narrative details. Servants, soldiers, musicians and other figures on rostrums and balconies populate the room in so natural a manner, that the viewer begins to doubt whether they belong to Cleopatra's entourage or to the real staff of the palace. The central ceiling fresco depicts The Triumph of Bellerophon over Time, flanked by four monochrome scenes of mythological and allegorical characters.