Allegorical Figure Representing Metaphysics

A draped female figure stands on a pink-veined marble pedestal beside a fluted column, lifting a long fold of pale cloth with one hand. A small relief panel with figures sits above her against a dark, mottled background. The painting has the soft, muted tones of a fresco transferred to canvas, with the figure rendered as if carved in stone.

Look closer: A small relief panel with standing figures is set high on the wall above the statue.

Artist

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Date

1760

Medium

Fresco, transferred to canvas

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

1612 × 3873 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Grace Rainey Rogers, 1943