The Glorification of the Barbaro Family, ceiling decoration, ca. 1750

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, Venetian, 1696–1770)
Oil on canvas; Irregular oval, 96 x 183 3/4 in. (243.8 x 466.7 cm)
Anonymous Gift, in memory of Oliver H. Payne, 1923 (23.128)

This light-filled composition was painted about 1750 to decorate a ceiling in a room of the Palazzo Barbaro, Venice. The Barbaro were among the most illustrious Venetian families and it is to them that the male figure of Valor accompanied by a lion alludes. Behind Valor is Fame blowing her trumpet and holding an olive branch, and behind the lion is Abundance, with a cornucopia. At the lower left are Prudence, with a snake, and Nobility, holding a statuette of Minerva.