This project has been generously sponsored by Annasue McCleave Wilson and John H. Wilson III, and the Mary Ryan and John H Wilson II Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation.

In the final years of his life, Giambattista Tiepolo’s son, Giandomenico, dedicated himself to creating the Divertimento per li regazzi, a series of 104 drawings now celebrated as his masterpiece and a pinnacle of 18th-century European art. Designed purely for his personal enjoyment, these drawings feature the grotesque figure Punchinello. Through this character, Giandomenico skillfully parodies the mundanities of daily life, revealing its inherent comic absurdities.

Giandomenico’s drawings surfaced at a Sotheby’s auction in 1920, their origins undocumented. The following year, they were exhibited at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris before being dispersed across various museums, predominantly in the United States. Over time, individual or small groups of drawings have been periodically published. Notably, in 1979 and 1986, the entire series was published collectively for the first time, though presented in a non-original, arbitrary order. Since then, the authentic sequence of the 104 drawings has not been restored.

Recently, two photo albums from the 1920s and 1930s have come to light from the Morassi Collection at Ca’ Foscari University, Venice. These albums feature high-quality photographic reproductions of Giandomenico’s 104 drawings and are significant because they unveil a previously unknown chapter in the collection history of these works. Notes on ownership reveal that the photographs originally belonged to Italico Brass (1870-1943), a distinguished Venetian painter and art collector. Brass donated these albums to Professor Antonio Morassi between 1939 and 1940. A handwritten note by Brass further suggests that the drawings originated from the “former Algarotti collection” in Venice. Crucially, these photographs enable the reconstruction of the original sequence of the drawings, resolving a puzzle that has remained unsolved until now. The albums also provide invaluable context for previously unavailable drawings and assist in piecing together sheets that were cut over time, often to isolate individual figures for market purposes.

The photo albums feature covers made of half-leather with cloth corners, mounted on cardboard panels. These covers show significant wear and abrasions. The spines are in poor condition due to the inferior quality of the leather; one album is missing its spine entirely, while the other is extremely fragile. However, the cardboard sheets within the albums are in relatively better shape, despite having some tears along the edges.

Two Photo Albums of Giandomenico Tiepolo’s Divertimento per li regazzi
c. 1920-1930
Ca’ Foscari University

Agamben, Giorgio. Pulcinella, ovvero Divertimento per regazzi: in quattro scene. Rome: Nottetempo, 2015

Gealt, Adelheid M. Domenico Tiepolo: i disegni di Pulcinella. Milan: Mondadori, 1986

Gealt, Adelheid M. and George Knox (eds.). Domenico Tiepolo: Master Draftsman. Milan: Electa, 1996

McHale, Katherine. Child’s Play? Giandomenico Tiepolo’s Punchinello Drawings and the Fall of Venice. In “Master Drawings,” 50, 1 (Autumn 2012): 95-114

Tumanov, Rostislav. Groteskes Korpus. Theatrale, narrative und referenzielle Aspekte des Divertimento per li Regazzi von Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo. In “Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte,” LXXX (2019): 205-240