etchings by giovanni battista tiepolo ... the capricci ... and ... the scherzi di fantasia ...

Tiepolo produced two series of etchings: the 'Varii Capricci' of 10 horizontal plates (before 1743), and then the 'Scherzi di Fantasia' of 23 (despite the titleplate talking of 24 plates) vertical plates, each numbered (begun in the1750s, completed c.1758)

 the capricci ... the ten prints published in his lifetime

the queen owns a complete set

https://www.rct.uk/collection/807843/vari-capricci

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Tiepolo

and then the scherzi de fantasia ... the 23 etchings published by his son about fifteen years after his death

Plate 1 ... the text was added by Dominico some years after his father's death

there is no recognized narrative structure to these series and I'm not sure they really need separation ... indeed, nowadays they tend to be published in a single volume where possible ...  

Plate 2

Tre maghi bruciano un serpente

Plate 3

Donna seduta che parla con un vecchio.

Plate 4

Un mago indica una testa che brucia.

Plate 5

Ragazzo e mago seduto che osserva dei crani.

Plate 6

Mado seduto presso un ara fumante.

Plate 7

Un soldato un mago e una baccante osservano un cranio che bruchia.

Plate 8

Donna in ginocioi presso un ara.

Plate 9

Pulcinella due maggi e un efebo.

plate 10

La familia del satiro allegra.

Plate 11

La famiglia del satiro con la piramide tronca.

Plate 12

Sei persone guardano un serpente.

Plate 13

Due maghi e un bambino.

Plate 14

Due maghi e due ragazzi.

Plate 15

La famiglia del contadino orientale.

Plate 16

Due maghi e un pastore.

Plate 17

La scoperta della tomba di Pulcinella.

Plate 18

Mago con scimmia.

Plate 19

Tre uomine e un cavallo

Plate 20

Il filosofo solitario.

Plate 21

Donna con asinello e due bambino.

Plate 22

Due maghi e un ragazzo.

Plate 23

Bacchante, satire, e faune.

DIVERTIMENTI PER LI REGAZZI ... by giandomenico tiepolo ... brilliant son of a brilliant father gianbattista tiepolo ... retired but remained very active and produced a body of 104 drawings devoted to the life of Pulchinello, and his kin and kind, the Pulchinelli ...

no one is absolutely and definitely sure if there ever was a seamless narrative continuity in this series ... but some themes and some of life's milestones are evident ... the title page sets the tone it delicately parodies the title page of his father's scherzi series of engravings, seen first ...

BUT FIRST ... if this topic interests you, then Sophie Bostock's 2009 thesis is worth a down load ...

https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/3144/1/WRAP_THESIS_Bostock1_2009.pdf

the very first drawing after the title page shows the birth of punchinello's father ... hatched from a turkey's egg ... of course, some of the ancient gods and divine beings were thought to have been hatched, although not from turkeys ...

amongst those who've studied the series, everyone's best guess at narrative continuity suggests this next drawing shows the mother and father of pulchinello, marching to their wedding ...

and here they make their vows and receive the blessing of ??? some sort of priest, in surroundings that echo the ones often painted by veronese ...

then we see their wedding feast ... possibly another parody of  his father's work ... the feast of cleopatra and mark anthony 

after their marriage, the groom brings his new bride to his parents' house ...

a pregnancy follows ... pulchinello's mother presents with classic symptoms ...

the baby Pulcinello is born ... and is immediately acquainted with his father

the baby Pulcinello is introduced to his mother's breast ...

and is then swaddled ...

the infant Pulcinello is encouraged to walk ...

later he is given a captive bird, tied on a string ...

there is a children's party ...

and pulcinello is taken to his first day at a country school ...

soon Pulcinello and the other pulcinelli encounter the world of work ...

for instance, in the fitting room of a couturier ...

helping to spin flaxen threads ...

or as a tailor's assistant ...

the vigorous Pulcinelli conduct a burial ...

the pulcinelli uproot a tree

the pulcinelli chop wood

the pulcinelli in a carpenters workshop

their strength and agility, sociability and diligence, and their willingness to co-operate at all times mean they are ideal subjects for a great baroque artist ...

are they gathering firewood ?

the pulcinelli are in a barber shop

the pulcinelli sawing timbers

are the pulcinelli selling firewood ?

most of all, the Pulcinelli like to dance, and fall in love ...

they dance with fervour and passion

even their dogs like to dance

pulcinello courting a lady

inevitably, they will settle down to prosperous and respectable domesticity ... well mostly ...

pulcinelli children are given sweets

pulcinelli families gather in a country garden

pulcinello attends a lady ... but is she his wife ?

sometimes, the Punchinelli's party lifestyle brings them to the point of exhaustion and collapse ...

more scenes of exhaustion ... drunk, probably

is he drunk ... or about to expire ?

it saddens me to see the Pulcinelli hunt and enjoy the persecution of wild creatures with their dogs

and the pulcinelli are crack shots 

they take pleasure from the killing of a stag

(21) Collection in Focus: Domenico Tiepolo's "Punchinello" Drawings - YouTube

... to be continued ...

Rubens' Danza Aldeanos ... one of his best, i think ...

when rubens died, the king of spain sent his ambassador to rubens house to buy the best of the paintings rubens had kept, and this one was sold for 800 florins

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danza_de_aldeanos

https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/dance-of-mythological-figures-and-villagers/e6e93efc-e851-41d9-bf9d-50e147babb30