San Marino · 250th anniversary of the death of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Giambattista Tiepolo was born in Venice in 1696 and is considered one of the defining painters of the late Italian Baroque and Rococo. He created altarpieces, paintings and, above all, large-scale ceiling frescoes. His work is characterised by bright colour spaces, strong foreshortening and figures that seem to move into an open sky. Tiepolo worked not only in northern Italy, but also for foreign patrons. At the Würzburger Residenz, he created extensive frescoes together with his sons, including the ceiling painting above the staircase. He later went to the Spanish court in Madrid, where he died in 1770.

“Agar ed Ismaele” deals with a story from the Book of Genesis. Hagar, an Egyptian maidservant of Abraham, had the son Ismael with him. After Sara herself had given birth to Isaac, Hagar and Ismael were sent away. In the desert, their supply of water ran out. An angel encouraged Hagar and announced that a great nation would descend from Ismael; she then discovered a well. Within the narrative, the angelic figure thus represents divine assistance and the rescue of mother and child.

The Scuola Grande di San Rocco is not a school in the modern sense, but the seat of a Venetian lay confraternity. Such confraternities undertook religious and social tasks, supported those in need and had their meeting houses elaborately decorated. The building is particularly known for its extensive cycle of paintings by Jacopo Tintoretto and is one of the central sites in the history of Venetian art.

No more precise official justification for the selection of this detail of the image is given. However, the decision can be seen in the context of San Marino’s practice of regularly featuring artists and works from the Italian cultural sphere on commemorative coins. Tiepolo was also a suitable choice because of the milestone anniversary and his close connection with Venetian painting.