The Glorification of the Barbaro Family

An airborne allegory floats above a Venetian family: winged figures, putti and personifications crowd a sunlit sky as the Barbaro clan is raised toward glory. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo was the last great Venetian decorative painter, and this ceiling canvas from about 1750 shows his effortless command of the grand style — pale blues and pinks, figures that tumble through space with ballet-like grace. It is Rococo splendour at its most joyful, a family portrait disguised as a celestial vision.