Caricature of a Seated Man with a Book and a Cane

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo sketched "Caricature of a Seated Man with a Book and a Cane," using pen and brown wash, sometime in the 18th century. Tiepolo, working in Venice during a time of social stratification, uses caricature – or social critique through humor and exaggeration - as a tool. Consider the sitter: his posture is relaxed, but his feet are bare; he's a figure of status, holding both a book and a cane, but his clothing seems to hang loosely. He sits alone and reads. What’s going on here? Perhaps Tiepolo is commenting on the isolating effects of intellectualism or class distinction. Or maybe, on the opposite side of things, the drawing’s overt humor is meant to satirize a particular social group. What we can say for sure, is that this quiet sketch speaks volumes about Venetian society at the time, and the artist's perception of it.