Attacks on the Walls of a City
1696-1770
Even though Tiepolo is the superstar of the playful Rococo movement—famous for light, airy ceilings full of pastel colors—this sketch is pure action. Soldiers are scrambling up ladders and pouring out of a wooden siege tower to storm a fortress, while a fallen warrior lies in the foreground. It’s a gritty, energetic scene that feels like a freeze-frame from a movie. This drawing proves that before he filled palaces with gods and angels, he had a raw talent for capturing the chaos of war with just swift, scratchy lines.
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