Third son of Giambattista Tiepolo and Cecilia Guardi (the sister of the painters Francesco and Antonio Guardi), Giandomenico was born in 1727 and would grow up to be an artist whose visionary works reflect the profound changes in the Venice of the day. He began working with his father at a very early age, collaborating on such projects as the decoration of Palazzo Labia (1746-47) and thenceforth on most of the major projects right up until the final masterpieces painted in Madrid (1762-1770). However, Giandomenico was also an independent artist, producing a variety of paintings and frescoes that range from the Stations of the Cross in San Polo (1747-1749) to the numerous works in Würzburg. Upon the death of his father, in 1770, Giandomenico returned to the Veneto; and though he accepted various commissions, he decided to spend most of his time in his Zianigo villa, where he not only produced the frescoes which decorated the building but also a vast number of drawings and engravings. These focus mainly on themes taken from everyday life, which are depicted with an eye for the grotesque. Satyrs abound; but the artist also produced a one-hundred-and-four-page album for children in which Pulcinella is the main character. Having retired entirely to private life, Giandomenico would pass his last years at Zianigo, which he continued to decorate with frescoes that form an extraordinary legacy of his art. He died in Venice in 1804.