Italy / 1797–1804
The Game of Bowls
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs The Game of Bowls as drawing (Italy · 1797–1804).
This drawing is part of a larger series that depicts the life of Punchinello, a clown-like character derived from Italian popular theater.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this drawing as pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash, over traces of black chalk; framing lines in brown ink over graphite on antique laid paper and credits Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (Italian, 1727–1804).
The museum's collection notes: Here, Punchinello characters sporting their signature conical hats and hooked-nosed masks compete against a group of men in a lively game of bocce,an Italian bowling game . While their exaggerated movements infuse the drawing with a sense of whimsy, the massive prison fortress behind them suggests surveillance and control. Although not overtly political, this detail may allude to Venice’s fall to the French in 1797, which led to a ban on the commedia dell’arte, Italy’s popular theater tradition with its mocking Punchinellos.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtThe Game of BowlsOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.