Three Soldiers and a Boy, from Capricci

Three Soldiers and a Boy, from Capricci is an exquisite etching on paper created by the celebrated Italian master Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770) between 1735 and 1745. This work is part of a distinguished collection of prints known as the Capricci (Caprices or Fantasies), marking the high point of Tiepolo’s output as a graphic artist. Unlike his vast fresco commissions, these smaller scale etchings allowed the artist to explore intimate, often melancholic, and intentionally ambiguous genre scenes. The technique itself demonstrates the artist's technical prowess, utilizing delicate, suggestive lines and subtle cross-hatching to define the figures and their worn, evocative surroundings.

The composition features three indistinctly uniformed soldiers gathered around a young boy, perhaps a drummer or messenger, set against a backdrop suggesting crumbling antiquity and overgrown ruins. This type of grouping reflects the artistic trends popular in 18th-century Italy, where the capriccio genre mixed contemporary figures with classical fragments, evoking the transience of time and the grandeur of the past. Tiepolo’s masterful control of light and shadow infuses the grouping with quiet drama, ensuring the figures retain a sense of mystery common throughout the Capricci collection.

As one of the preeminent draftsmen of the Venetian School, Tiepolo’s prints were highly sought after by collectors across Europe. His prints ensured his influence extended far beyond his monumental painting projects. This fine impression currently resides in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. As this Baroque-era work is often considered to be in the public domain, high-quality reference prints remain widely available for study, ensuring the continued appreciation of Tiepolo's sophisticated and distinctive contribution to 18th-century Italian graphic arts.