Young Man Seated, Leaning Against an Urn, plate from Vari Capricci (Various Caprices)

One of the most renowned Italian painters of the 18th century, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo brought Venetian flair to palaces across Europe through expansive ceiling frescoes for royal patrons such as Prince Karl Philipp in Würzburg and King Charles III of Spain. During the 1740s when he was painting decorations for private palaces in Venice, Tiepolo began experimenting with printmaking. His etchings, like this one from a volume of lively and whimsical scenes, capture the other-worldly qualities of light and suspended action that appear in his frescoes, but in a much smaller, personal format.