Titelprent voor Scherzi di fantasia met uilen bij een steen

Titelprent voor Scherzi di fantasia met uilen bij een steen, created by the Venetian master Giovanni Battista Tiepolo between 1750 and 1762, serves as the frontispiece for his renowned series of etched capricci. Executed on paper, this highly imaginative print exemplifies the artist's inventive use of the etching needle to create dynamic, light-filled compositions. The Scherzi di fantasia series, which translates to "Fantasies," marked a departure from Tiepolo’s traditional commissions toward mysterious and often melancholy arrangements of symbolic objects, ruins, and figures characteristic of mid-eighteenth-century Italian printmaking.

The composition centers around a massive stone or pedestal, adjacent to which two owls are dramatically placed. Owls often signify wisdom or nocturnal secrecy in art, perfectly fitting the enigmatic, often theatrical tone of Tiepolo’s later graphic works. Unlike his earlier, lighter Capricci, the Scherzi prints utilize richer, darker tonal contrasts and deeply etched lines, emphasizing dramatic chiaroscuro effects. Tiepolo defined his forms with rapid, suggestive cross-hatching, demonstrating a mastery of the medium that made his prints highly sought after by collectors across Europe.

This particular impression of the title page is held in the prestigious print collection of the Rijksmuseum, reflecting the international acclaim of Tiepolo's graphic output. The significance of these complex prints lies in their considerable influence on subsequent generations of artists interested in the expressive and abstract potential of etching. As a historically important example of Italian capriccio development, this work is widely studied, and high-resolution images of these master prints are frequently available in the public domain for research and appreciation.