Three soldiers and a youth lying on his abdomen in a landscape, the soldiers bear armor and a flag, from the series 'The Capricci' 1740 - 1742

This etching, 'Three Soldiers and a Youth' is by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. It is part of his series called 'The Capricci' and offers a glimpse into 18th-century Italian society. The print depicts soldiers with a flag gathered around a youth, lying passively on the ground. Tiepolo situates the figures in a landscape marked by ambiguity and perhaps even vulnerability. Consider that during the 18th century, Venice was in decline, and the old certainties were crumbling. Tiepolo uses the visual language of the heroic, of the soldier, but he also introduces elements of the strange and the uncertain through the figure of the languid youth. The figures invite us to contemplate the artist’s relationship with class and power. 'The Capricci' series defies conventional representations of valor, prompting us to think about the relationship between the powerful and the powerless.