IU Art Museum director collects drawings for book

Ten years of research have paid off for IU Art Museum Director Adelheid Gealt, whose reconstruction of 18th-century artist Domenico Tiepolo's New Testament drawings coincides with her latest book, "Domenico Tiepolo: A New Testament." The book features full-color photos of all 313 drawings, which were made with pen, along with titles and descriptions.\n"I've always been fascinated by the fact that all of Domenico's drawings are horizontal," said Gealt of the distinct drawings, which are set to large horizontal sheets rather than vertical. \nAt least seven of the actual pieces will be on display at the IU Art Museum from March 28 through May 30, 2007, while a larger exhibition will be displayed later this month at the Frick Collection in New York City from Oct. 24 through Jan. 7, 2007.\nGealt worked with George Knox, an emeritus professor at the University of Vancouver, to reconstruct the pieces published in the book. Their work has pieced together the order of Domenico's drawings, which tell the story of Jesus Christ according to the New Testament and also ponder interesting alterations to that story that are not included in the Bible. For example, Domenico's depiction of Christ's crucifixion shows St. Peter to be present, even though none of the Gospels say he was there. The drawings also show differences among the Gospels, especially between those of Matthew and Mark. \n"What I discovered working on (Domenico) is that this artist is very unique in one sense -- that from 1785 until his death in 1804, he worked to please himself," Gealt said. "He didn't work on commission, and he didn't work on assignments."\nThat Domenico worked to please himself begs the question of why he would make such a large cycle of elaborate drawings with so much historical content and such an emphasis on differences between Gospels. One theory brought up by Gealt is that it was meant as an educational tool for children intending to be priests.\nGealt, who said she has been researching Domenico on and off for her entire professional career, worked with Knox for her last publication on Domenico as well. Knox focuses on Venetian art, which includes Domenico, while Gealt studies almost exclusively the works of Domenico. Together -- after extensive research of the New Testament and other historical texts on Jesus' life -- Gealt and Knox were able to piece together the meaning behind the drawings.\nThese secrets were not easy to come by, though. With no titles or definitions, Domenico's drawings were as hard to figure out as they were to find. Gealt and Knox spent several years sifting through archives and sales records as well as visiting art dealers to locate the drawings.\n"He expects you to remember what happened and anticipate what's going to happen," Gealt said, referring to Domenico's style of drawing, which places an emphasis on the "knowledge and awareness of the text and of art history."\nIn the future, Gealt said she hopes to compile all the information collected on Domenico and create Web-based database about Domenico and his works.\n"I think we've managed to unlock most of the secrets, if not all," she said.