The Immaculate Conception
- Artist: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
- Date: 1767
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The Courtauld Gallery
- Collection record: The Courtauld Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is “The Immaculate Conception” by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Painted in 1767, it’s an oil on canvas sketch that Tiepolo used as a preparatory study for one of the seven altarpieces he completed for the Church of San Pascual in Aranjuez, Spain. That church was the first major building project of King Charles III, who reigned from 1759 to 1788, and was commissioned to serve the barefoot Franciscans—friars who embraced a very austere interpretation of Christianity.
Tiepolo’s work here reflects that simplicity. The composition is restrained, with a clear, almost heavenly focus on the Virgin that emphasizes purity over drama. It’s a concise study, yet it hints at the luminous, vibrant final altarpiece that was meant to inspire the friars and the local community. This particular piece was part of Tiepolo’s last major commission; after it hung in the church for only a few years, the king deemed the style too old‑fashioned and had the works removed.
So you’re looking at a crucial moment in Tiepolo’s career—his final brushstroke for a royal commission, captured in a small, elegant sketch that still tells a story of faith, politics, and the shifting tastes of 18th‑century Spain.
See it in person
The Immaculate Conception hangs in The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
