La rêverie del tratto: i Capricci e gli Scherzi di Fantasia di Giambattista Tiepolo

Giambattista Tiepolo's Capricci and Scherzi di Fantasia are an unsolved graphic enigma. The recurring figures in the two cycles of etchings belong to the broader repertoire of the painter, but in these engravings they are assembled together without any apparent meaning. The presence of a number of uncanny figures had led many scholars to think of the staging of occult rituals. However, none of them have ever found confirmation either in the writings or in the works of the Venetian painter. Here, we propose an interpretation of these engravings starting from the trait rather than from the figures. That of Capricci and Scherzi is very specific: it is a quick trait, full of an “emptiness” that is impossible in painting. Tiepolo, as an engraver seems to indulge in a graphic rêverie as Bachelard's rêveur: the recurring wrapped snake, which others have wanted to see as a reference to unlikely black magic rituals, may be intended as the emblematic representation of a movement that freely explores both the outer and inner world.