Death of Dido 1770

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo painted the Death of Dido in oils, but the date is, unfortunately, unknown. Tiepolo, as a Venetian, would have been well aware of the grand tradition of history painting and its role in conveying moral and political messages. His interpretation of Dido's death taps into the story of female leadership and tragic love found in Virgil's Aeneid. Consider the architecture framing the scene. We see classical motifs that evoke the grandeur of the past. The figures are draped in robes that give a sense of historical weight, but it's the emotional intensity of the scene that really grabs you. Notice Dido’s pale figure in contrast to the passionate grief of her attendants. Tiepolo’s brushwork is loose and expressive, full of movement and drama. Historians of art and culture can dig into Virgil's text, and into the history of Venice as a Republic, to better understand Tiepolo’s interests and aims, making art itself a historical document.