Watercolour, Copy after Giambattista Tiepolo’s fresco of the ‘Banquet of Antony and Cleopatra’ in the Ballroom of Palazzo Labia, Venice (1746-1747), Inscription in red watercolour in the bottom left corner ‘dal Tiepolo’ and signature in the bottom right corner ‘L.Desideri f.’, 1883.

Watercolour on paper mounted on paperboard. Copy after the fresco representing the ‘Banquet of Antony and Cleopatra’ in the Ballroom of Palazzo Labia, Venice. A painted arch frames the scene. A dwarf in colourful clothes seen from behind on three fictive marble steps at the very centre of the foreground invites the beholder to follow him the into the space of the episode narrated in the painting. The two lovers from the first century B.C., Antony - a Roman commander in ancient armour with a red cloak - and Cleopatra - the Egyptian queen dressed in eighteenth-century Venetian clothes – are representing seating at a table during a banquet. Cleopatra is holding a pearl, that she is about to drop in a glass full of vinegar to prove her wealth to Antony. Some Roman soldiers and some members of Cleopatra’s entourage assist to the scene. On the top of the composition, on a marble balustrade, a group of musicians dressed in eighteenth-century clothes are imagined as entertaining both the characters of the painting and the actual people in the Labia’s Ballroom.
Desideri has signed the watercolour, ‘L. Desideri dis.’, in the bottom right corner and in the bottom left-hand corner, ‘dal Tiepolo’ has been written.

Banquet of Antony and Cleopatra.

National Gallery, 1993.

Watercolour made for the Arundel Society in 1883; given in 1897 to the National Gallery, London; transferred to the V&A in 1993.

This watercolour is a copy made by Luigi Desideri for the Arundel Society after the fresco, the ‘Banquet of Antony and Cleopatra’, by Giambattista Tiepolo in the Ballroom of Palazzo Labia in 1883. The scene forms part of the narrative cycle decorating the ballroom, which depicts two episodes from Antony’s and Cleopatra’s love story.

Original work

The decoration of the Ballroom of Palazzo Labia was commissioned to Giambattista Tiepolo (1696-1770) by Maria Labia in the 1740s. The artist completed the frescoes in 1746-1747, painting episodes from Antony’s and Cleopatra’s love-story.

By the nineteenth-century, the frescoes were in poor condition and barely visible within the private Venetian palace.


Arundel Society
The Arundel Society was founded in 1848 to promote knowledge of the art through the publication of reproductions of works of art. The Society was named after Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel (1585-1646), important aristocratic patron and collector of the early Stuart period. The Society was intended to reach the largest possible audience through these reproductions. Subjects were chosen because of their instructive meaning rather than their popularity. In addition to copies of famous paintings, the Society published an English translation of Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the most excellent painters, made in 1850 by Giovanni Aubrey Bezzi (1785-1789), one of the founding members of the Society.

The Arundel Society popularised Renaissance art, particularly that of the Italian Old Masters, echoing a growing interest for ‘primitives’ in the second half of the nineteenth century. The founding members of the Arundel Society were all acknowledge experts on Italian art. For instance, Sir Charles Eastlake (1793–1865; painter and art administrator), whose house was the meeting point of the Society, was Director of the National Gallery in London from 1855 until 1865 and during his tenure, he began one of the finest collections of Italian art in Britain.
Other preeminent members were John Ruskin (1819-1900, English writer, painter and collector), who supervised projects including the watercolours series of the Upper and Lower Church in Assisi, and Sir Austen H. Layard (1817-1894; English archaeologist, politician, diplomat, collector and writer). Layard lived and travelled in Italy for many years and his knowledge of the country’s art was extensive. It was thanks to Layard’s funding that the Society were able to publish copies of the watercolours made at their direction using chromolithography. Although photography was increasingly popular, as photographs could only be made in black and white, chromolithography was chosen as it was felt to be closer to the principals of the Arundel Society: they were coloured and had the aura of traditional prints. In this way, copies were more like the originals.

The Society reached the height of its popularity in the 1860s. However, by the end of the century, it faced mounting criticism with regards to the accuracy of its watercolour copies. The Society ceased its activities in 1897. At this time the availability of second hand prints had increased and the Society found it difficult to find market for its chromolithographs. Moreover, photographic reproductions were becoming increasingly popular thanks to technical advances. The last display of the Arundel Society’s watercolours took place at the National Gallery and when the Society was dissolved, some watercolours were given to that Institution, while others were acquired by the then South Kensington Museum (now V&A). The outstanding watercolours were transferred from the National Gallery to the V&A in the 1990s.

In 1883, Luigi Desideri was commissioned by the Arundel Society to copy Tiepolo’s frescoes in watercolour so as to convey the effect of the fresco technique. The artist gave a ‘restored’ version of the fresco section with the ‘Banquet of Antony and Cleopatra’ trying to evoke the dynamic composition and the light tones used by Tiepolo in his original, and removing any signs of deterioration in his copy.

The watercolour was never transposed as a chromolithograph and was never published in the Arundel Society’s issues, which were available to the public by subscription. When the Arundel Society was dissolved in 1897, the original watercolours were given to the National Gallery, which eventually transferred them to the V&A in 1993 where they have remained since.

Commissioned by the Arundel Society.

This watercolour is a copy after the fresco representing the ‘Banquet of Antony and Cleopatra’ (a Roman commander and an Egyptian queen from the first century B.C. - two of the most famous lovers from classical antiquity) in the Ballroom of Palazzo Labia, executed by Giambattista Tiepolo in 1746-47.

In 1883, Luigi Desideri was commissioned by the Arundel Society to copy it. The artist was hired in 1883 by the Society to copy mostly Venetian paintings. The watercolour was never transposed as a chromolithograph and was never published. When the Arundel Society was dissolved in 1897, the watercolour was given to the National Gallery, which eventually transferred it to the V&A in 1993, where it has remained since then.

The decoration of the Ballroom of Palazzo Labia was commissioned to Giambattista Tiepolo (1696-1770) by Maria Labia in the 1740s. The artist completed the frescoes in 1746-1747, painting episodes from Antony’s and Cleopatra’s love-story.

E.286-1995