The brother-in-law of Francesco Guardi and a contemporary of Canaletto, Giambattista Tiepolo was renowned for his luminous fresco decorations. He started etching about 1735, and his first series of etchings, ultimately entitled Vari Cappricci, were first published 1742 by Zanetti, who included them in his Raccolta de Varie Stampe. Zanetti described Tiepolo’s work as being of a most spirited and piquant taste and worthy of the highest esteem. He reissued them in 1749. In 1785 Tiepolo’s son GianDomenico published them independently with the title Vari Capricci. The titles are descriptive only and were given by later cataloguers. The subjects are enigmatic, with some evoking the ancient or Arcadian world with, as here, figures beside classical urns and obelisks. In 1774 the French collector and printseller, Pierre-Jean Mariette, wrote of Tiepolo’s rich and fertile genius…it shines above all in his prints.