Artist Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (Italian, August 30, 1727–March 3, 1804)
Title Anna Meets Joachim at the Golden Gate
Series A New Testament
Date 1786–1790
Medium Brown ink and wash over black chalk on paper
Dimensions Image: 18 1/4 × 14 3/16 in. (46.4 × 36 cm)
Sheet: 19 × 14 15/16 in. (48.3 × 37.9 cm)
Framed: 28 × 24 × 1 1/2 in. (71.1 × 61 × 3.8 cm)
Credit Line The Anthony Moravec Collection of Old Master Drawings, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number 2010.111
About this Work
The son of the famous Venetian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Domenico was also a noted draftsman. His graphic style, more earthbound and rooted in observation than his father’s, bears his distinctive trembling line quality. Domenico worked in serial narratives, including his New Testament cycle, numbering at least 320 sheets. This image is one of twelve drawings from this important series in Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art’s collection (Eskenazi Museum of Art 2010.111-.122). By combining narrative elements from a variety of literary sources with details of daily life, Domenico brought new life to these biblical stories.
Having been expelled from the temple for being childless, Joachim and Anna (who are not mentioned in the Gospels) were told by angels to return to the temple because God had blessed them with a miraculously conceived daughter, Mary. Domenico Tiepolo loved this story, and here depicted the old couple meeting at the Golden Gate, which he treats as an external entrance to the temple. Domenico always portrayed Anna with angels, who here hover overhead, one waving celebratory banners. Joachim (always seen from behind in Domenico’s series) is about to embrace Anna, but he never does so in Domenico’s drawings, possibly because the artist’s source, the medieval Golden Legend, states that the pair came face to face.
