Introduction B y any account, Giambattista Tiepolo (1696- 1770) stands among the most significant artists of the eighteenth century. <§> One of the most remarkable aspects of this nimble and productive painter was his capacity to work so brilliantly, over a half-century across so many media and genres, ranging from his modest drawings to the ceiling frescoes for which he is best known today £• Tiepolo's large number of oil sketches exemplify the deft touch, great intellect, and assured handling characteristic of the artist. & Oil sketches—-small, rapidly executed paintings that usually preceded a larger composition-— were standard European practice by the eighteenth century £• Because of the astonishing variety, invention, visual delight, and bravura technique of these works, the Venetian artist remains—alongside Peter Paul Rubens-— the most memorable practitioner of this type of painting.