Donkey stable

The animalistic composition by Giandomenico Tiepolo depicts the interior of a stable for donkeys. The artist used it to present a genre scene humorously. On the left side of the interior, partly covered with a wooden ceiling where straw is stored, donkeys stand and lie in various poses against a background of a brick wall, the plaster of which has almost entirely fallen off. A group of people are talking on the right. A peasant with a long stick, presumably a shepherd, and a boy, perhaps his helper, are shown in the foreground. In the foreground, a slim woman in a dress decorated with transverse stripes emphasising her figure, covering her head with a wide-brimmed hat, and a man in a wig and a three-edged hat sitting on a donkey, possibly the farm owner, as evidenced by the sword at his side, are standing backwards. The man is raising his hand with a broad gesture with a spade. The hem of his coat is playfully parted over the rump of the animal. The donkey standing closest to the group turns towards the people with its lean back, its muzzle looking like a smile. The other donkeys are occupied with themselves, paying no attention to what is happening in the stable.The drawing, made in ink over a black crayon sketch, under painted in watercolour, on cream paper, belongs to the cycle Scene di vita contemporanea - one hundred drawings from the artist's contemporary life. Giandomenico dated it on a plaque affixed to the wall: 1791, which was rare in his creative practice. The work belongs to a group of 36 works by the Tiepolo family. The most extensive Polish collection of drawings created by this distinguished and famous 18th-century Venetian family of artists is possessed by the National Museum in Szczecin.

Ewa Gwiazdowska