Drawing of the Day: Punchinellos with Monkey and a Dead Chicken, c. 1795

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Punchinellos with a Monkey on a Donkey Holding a Dead Chicken
Domenico Tiepolo, 1791-1804
The British Museum

We’ve seen the works of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo before and I much enjoy his Punchinello scenes.  But, we've not looked at the work of Domenico Tiepolo previously.  Domenico was the son of Giovanni Battista, and, like his father, the younger Tiepolo gave us many drawings of Punchinellos, often in groups, and often, as a Punchinello is wont to do, up to mischief.

This drawing from 1791 to 1804 depicts a group of Punchinellos with a monkey who’s holding a dead chicken on a donkey. 

I want to reinforce how wonderful this is...

It's PUNCHINELLOS with a MONKEY on a DONKEY and the monkey on the donkey is holding a DEAD CHICKEN.

It's as if all my dreams came true.

I confess, I initially read the title of the drawing as being “Punchinellos with a Dead Monkey.” This is, however, just as intriguing. 

In true Venetian style, beyond the figures, we see a view of a town. Like most of  the Tiepolos' Punchinello drawings, this one is created in pen and brown ink with ochre wash, over black chalk.

Was this a study for a painting? Perhaps. Tiepolo, in this work, shows that he was influenced by German artist Johann Elias Ridinger and his “Paradeis” series. Tiepolo often borrowed figures of animals from Ridinger’s works. If this was intended as a study for a painting, there’s no evidence of the finished product. The British Museum acquired this piece in 1925.