2-722-301 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

A Spring Shower, 1790s-1804. Among the treasures of the Cleveland museum's drawing collection are nine sheets from Tiepolo's series on the life of Pulchinello, known by its Italian title, I Divertimenti per li Regazzi (Enjoyments for Children). Tiepolo made 104 drawings featuring the Pulchinello character from the Italian tradition of popular theater known as the commedia dellarte. Yet the stories Tiepolo tells with the character are of his own strikingly modern invention. This exceptional drawing depicts a group from the back, walking in a spring shower that literally drips down the white paper. Despite the melancholy tone of the scene, an element of amusement exists in the contrast of shapes among the figures and our inability to see their faces, a playful motif that might suggest a scene from the annual Venetian celebration known as carnevale .