ONE OF THE GREATEST OF VENICE’S astonishing works of art is Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s fresco decoration of the Palazzo Labia. Angelo and Paolo Labia had the ballroom of their palace decorated by Tiepolo in 1746-7, to celebrate the centenary of their family’s elevation to the Venetian nobility — like several other rich merchant families, the Labias had bought their noble titles at vast expense.
Tiepolo provided the Labia brothers with a series of glorious frescos. Those on the walls depict Antony and Cleopatra as they meet, dine together, and part. On the ceiling, Tiepolo’s subject is more obscure — The Triumph of Bellerophon over Time — but the results are just as magnificent.
The response of artists was enormously enthusiastic. Painters such as Sir
