Minneapolis Institute of Art
Death of Hyacinth
Giambattista Tiepolo (Giovanni Battista Tiepolo)LinkedCulture matchlcp-87fd10a3e880
- Date
- c. 1752–53
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink and wash on laid paper
- Department
- European Art
- Institution
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Object ID
- 33415
From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record
How much drama can a great artist pack into a tiny space? Using a brush to draw with various dilutions of ink wash, Giambattista Tiepolo turned this tiny sheet of paper into an operatic stage. This sketch provided the seed for a painting that was over nine feet tall. The dying figure is Hyacinth, a handsome prince who became the god Apollo’s lover in Greek mythology. When Apollo threw a discus, Hyacinth wanted to impress him by catching it, but the unfortunate youth was fatally struck in the head. Unable to revive Hyacinth, Apollo memorialized his lover by creating a flower, the hyacinth, from his body. Tiepolo’s painting reveals that he learned the story from a 1561 translation that substituted a tennis ball for the discus. Italy, Europe
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Bequest of Professor Alfred Moir
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