# Three Angels Appearing to Abraham

**Giovanni Battista Tiepolo** (Italian, 1696–1770)  
c. 1726  
Pen and brown ink and brush and brown and gray wash, over black chalk, on ivory laid paper  
43.1 × 28.5 cm (17 × 11 1/4 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1970.41. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/33084).

## About this work

Three angels appear to Abraham at Mamre to announce that his aged wife Sarah will bear a son, as told in Genesis. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo drew the scene in pen and brown ink with washes over black chalk around 1726, the years in which he was painting frescoes of Old Testament subjects, this episode among them, in the archbishop’s palace at Udine. The luminous washes, left open in places so that the bare paper reads as light, show the speed and assurance of his draughtsmanship.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo painted this in about 1726, aged about 27. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of pen and brown ink and brush and brown and gray wash, over black chalk, on ivory laid paper.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Chalk.** Natural black, red and white chalks. Used together on toned paper they could give the warmth of flesh with very little effort, and they were favourites for studies from life.
- **Pen and ink.** Drawn with a quill or reed pen, often with wash added by brush to model light and shadow.
- **Laid paper.** Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.

### [Giovanni Battista Tiepolo](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/giovanni-battista-tiepolo)

Italian, 1696–1770; born in Venice; died in Madrid

Tiepolo was the leading decorative painter of eighteenth-century Europe, covering ceilings and walls with airy skies, foreshortened figures and luminous colour. After establishing himself in Venice, he worked with his sons Giandomenico and Lorenzo on the frescoes of the Residenz at Würzburg in 1750–53, and in 1762 he went to Madrid to decorate the Royal Palace for Charles III, remaining there until his death. Rinaldo and Armida, the lovers of Tasso’s epic Jerusalem Delivered, were subjects he painted more than once.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Drawing and Watercolor
- Culture: Italy
- The artist was about 27
- Real size: about 17 × 11 in (43 × 28 cm). The 12 × 16 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 18th century
- Movement: [Rococo](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/rococo)
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/129.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/129/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/three-angels-appearing-to-abraham-aic-33084).