Punchinello with Dumpling or Fritter

"Punchinello with Dumpling or Fritter" is a vibrant drawing executed by the Venetian master Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770). This piece utilizes pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash, expertly applied over an initial sketch in leadpoint or black chalk.

The classification of this piece as a drawing speaks to its function, either as a preparatory study or an independent work focused purely on character study. It belongs to Tiepolo’s extensive series depicting Punchinello (Pulcinella), the hook-nosed, grotesque figure central to the Italian Commedia dell’arte. Unlike the grand religious and mythological frescoes for which Tiepolo is most famous, this work offers an intimate, almost candid, portrayal of the character.

The rapid application of the brown wash and the spontaneous ink lines are characteristic of Tiepolo's late style, giving the figure an air of restless energy. The focus on the subject matter is clearly defined by the tags: a man consumed by the immediate act of eating. Punchinello is shown delicately holding a piece of food-either a dumpling or a fritter-in his fingers, emphasizing the themes of hunger and quick consumption associated with the comic figure.

This study of the human figure, rendered with such expressive economy, is a critical example of late Baroque Venetian graphic art. It showcases Tiepolo's mastery of draftsmanship and his interest in genre scenes involving common men. This significant eighteenth-century European drawing is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it serves as a cornerstone for studying Tiepolo’s transition into the Rococo style.