The Illustrious Guest: Giambattista Tiepolo’s "Last Judgment"
10 October 2026 – 17 January 2027

Thanks to a collaboration with Gallerie d’Italia and Intesa Sanpaolo, the Galleria d’Arte Antica del Castello di Udine presents its ‘Illustrious Guest’: Giambattista Tiepolo’s Last Judgment, from the Bank’s art collections.
This prestigious loan provides an opportunity to explore the development of Tiepolo’s style and technique by placing the Last Judgment (dated by scholars to between 1730 and 1747) in dialogue with works created by the Venetian master for Udine and now on display at the Galleria d’Arte Antica del Castello.
The work was probably conceived as a preparatory model for the ceiling decoration of a prestigious building, as part of a project that was either never realised or may subsequently have been lost. This possible intended purpose helps us understand the composition of the canvas: Tiepolo arranges the scene as though the viewer were looking at it from below, with the figures arranged in a spiralling movement that draws the eye towards the centre, where the figure of Christ is positioned.
The Last Judgment temporarily takes the place of the celebrated Consilium in arena, Tiepolo’s masterpiece, which is on loan to the exhibition Giandomenico Tiepolo (1727–1804). A New World, taking place during the same period at Gallerie d’Italia – Vicenza, in Palazzo Leoni Montanari.