Study for a Ceiling with the Personification of Counsel

Study for a Ceiling with the Personification of Counsel is a dynamic oil on canvas painting created by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo in 1762. This monumental sketch, or modello, belongs to the final and highly demanding period of the Venetian master's career, placing its creation squarely within the European art world between 1751 to 1775. The work served as a preparatory study for one of the immense ceiling frescoes commissioned by King Charles III for the Royal Palace in Madrid, where Tiepolo spent the last years of his life executing his grandest commissions.

The composition centers on the Personification of Counsel, a celestial figure rendered with characteristic lightness and dazzling bravura brushwork, embodying the zenith of the Italian Rococo tradition. The dramatic foreshortening emphasizes the illusionistic technique known as di sotto in sù (seen from below), a method Tiepolo perfected to create the sensation of infinite sky opening above the viewer. The figure is strategically positioned against a vibrant, airy background of clouds and architectural fragments that spiral upwards, emphasizing the depth and dramatic movement of the fictive space.

Tiepolo’s mastery is evident in the rapid, assured application of paint, using loose strokes to define form and capture the quality of light specific to the high heavens. This canvas provides invaluable insight into the artist’s meticulous methodology for transferring complex, small-scale designs into monumental fresco cycles. Although working abroad, Tiepolo remained the foremost inheritor of grand Venetian painting traditions. Today, the painting resides in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Due to its cultural importance, Study for a Ceiling with the Personification of Counsel is often available for study and reference in the public domain, ensuring that high-quality prints and academic resources on this crucial piece of 18th-century art history remain widely accessible.