Allegorical Figure Representing Geometry 1760

Curator: Isn't it remarkable how artists distill abstract ideas into tangible forms? We are standing before Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's "Allegorical Figure Representing Geometry," created around 1760, now residing here at The Met. Editor: It does strike a chord. Initially, I feel a sense of cool intellectual remove—almost like a neoclassical iceberg, elegantly floating by. Curator: Precisely. Tiepolo often imbued his figures with an ethereal quality. Notice how the depicted statue almost seems to emanate light against the architectural background—are those frescoed or painted columns? The rendering really suggests materiality, right down to what appears to be a marble base. It feels almost sculptural on a sculptural piece! Editor: Absolutely! The very concept of “geometry” being materialized is compelling, particularly given the time period. What kinds of processes and labor went into producing frescoed walls that emulate stone columns around a painted stone statue, all to abstract a discipline like geometry. The amount of making feels a little absurd in the best possible way. Curator: Indeed. Allegorical personifications like this were central to the period's intellectual climate. The figure, caught between a partially revealed nude form and the heavy drape, feels as though it is in the process of coming into being, not just as an image, but as an embodiment of pure intellect. It reminds me a little of those Roman copies of Greek originals—ghosts of statues from antiquity. Editor: Thinking about its place historically adds another dimension, especially in considering how the artist may be subverting class boundaries and notions about "fine" art. From the choice of a cheaper frescoed paint, the labor of craftspeople, to the cost of display itself. Curator: It all converges, doesn't it? Perhaps that’s the lingering quality, the dialogue between mind and hand. After all, even mathematics starts with marks on a page. Editor: Well, considering Tiepolo was contracted to create illusions and spaces—both social and geometric—to display such sculptures...it makes one wonder where labor ends and geometry truly begins.