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Crocodile emerging from the rushes towards the water's edge

Maker

(artist)
1727-1804

Title

Crocodile emerging from the rushes towards the water's edge

Date of Production

c. 1790-1795

Medium

traces of black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 23.2 cm
Width: 16.8 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.2631

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

rush



Related Works

Crocodile emerging from the rushes

Label Text

This smiling crocodile emerging from a bed of rushes derives from a painting by Rubens, 'Crocodile and Hippopotamus Hunt'. It was etched by Johann Elias Ridinger, whose prints of birds and animals Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo frequently copied. Another drawing of a crocodile - a symbol of America - relates to the fresco cycle of Continents designed by his father, Giambattista Tiepolo, for the staircase of the Prince-Bishop's Residenz in Würzburg.

Provenance

possibly Ferruccio Asta (Venice); purchased at his sale (?) by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d.; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Captured on Paper, Animals in the Prints and Drawings Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 20/06/2002-11/08/2002

Domenico Tiepolo: maestria e gioco, Castello di Udine; Indiana University Art Museum, 14/09/1996-09/03/1997

Disegni veneti di collezioni inglesi, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, 1980 ...More

Drawings from the Witt Collection at the Courtauld Institute of Art, St James's Square, London; York City Art Gallery; Peterborough Art Gallery, 1953

Eighteenth-century Venice, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London; Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, 03/01/1951-18/04/1951

Old Masters from the Witt Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 01/01/1943-01/05/1943 ...Less

Literature

Domenico Tiepolo: maestria e gioco. Disegni dal mondo, Castello di Udine and Indiana University Art Museum, 1996 - 1997
cat. no. 117
no. 117
ill.

Disegni veneti di collezioni inglesi, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, 1980
cat. no. 97

Byam Shaw, James, Selected writings, Colnaghi, London 1968
p. 123 ...More

Byam Shaw, James, 'The Remaining Frescoes in the Villa Tiepolo at Zianigo' in 'Burlington Magazine', November 1959 - 391-95; 101, no. 680
pp. 392, 395
see attached PDF

Drawings from the Witt Collection at the Courtauld Institute of Art, St James's Square, London, York City Art Gallery and Peterborough Art Gallery, 1953
cat. no. 66

Byam Shaw, James, 'Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo' in 'Old Master Drawings', March 1938
pp. 56-57
pl. 59 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: unable to check due to fragility of drawing.

Inscription: Recto: lower right corner, brown ink, signed by the artist: “dom Tiepolo”.

Collector's mark: Verso: lower right corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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