Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

The last of the great Venetian fresco painters, working on ceilings across Italy, Germany and Spain at a moment when Venice itself was in political decline. His Würzburg staircase is the largest fresco in the world; he died in Madrid working for a Spanish king, which is the shape of an eighteenth-century career.

• Lived: 1696 CE – 1770 CE
• Nationality: italian
• Roles: painter