Giovanni Battista Tiepolo made a number of drawings of the popular commedia dell'arte character Punchinello, whom he depicted either alone or in the company of others just like him, with beaklike noses and sugarloaf hats. Sometimes they were pictured cooking gnocchi or, as here, having passed out from too much drink. Such sketches were to provide the point of departure for the famous series of Punchinello drawings undertaken late in life by the artist's son Domenico. -- Exhibition Label, from "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection"