A Bearded Man Wearing a Turban

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo

1758–1760

Oil on canvas, Oil, Canvas

J. Paul Getty Museum

This arresting head study is one of several imaginary portraits of bearded men in outlandish costumes, probably intended to be philosophers, painted by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo. Such works were part of a broader movement of painted head studies that became widespread among eighteenth-century Venetian artists who were trying to satisfy the refined taste of a growing clientele of collectors, amateurs, and foreign visitors to Venice, who were eager to bring home an example of the renowned Venetian school of painting. Giandomenico's head studies were produced in direct response to a series of "fantasy" portraits by the artist's father