Guess the Artwork
Mecenate Presenta le Arti Liberali ad Augusto - Maecenas Presenting the Liberal Arts to Emperor Augustus, Oil on canvas, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, at the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia.
This painting was originally a gift to the art collector count Heinrich von Brühl, the powerful prime minister of Elector Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, also King Augustus III of Poland. Commissioned by Count Francesco Algarotti this painting glorifies the life and work of Von Brühl who held a similar post at the court of Augustus III, King of Poland, to that of Maecenas under the Roman Emperor Augustus.
Three female figures, accompanied by Homer personifying poetry, are allegories of the Liberal Arts - Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. In his correspondence, Algarotti mentions that in the background Tiepolo depicted Bruhl's Dresden palace with its hanging garden. Algarotti kept a watercolour copy of the painting in his house.
