L'Apoteosi della monarchia spagnola

The Seven Years' War ended in 1763 and Spain came out of it poorly, handing Florida to Britain in exchange for Havana. Within a year or two of that settlement Tiepolo was inside the new royal palace in Madrid, working up a ceiling for the small room next to the throne room, and what he offered was the Spanish monarchy in triumph. Mercury carries a crown towards the enthroned figure of Spain, Fame sounds her trumpet, and the continents are sketched in below as subjects. He tried the composition more than once in oil before committing it to plaster. Two of those small versions are in New York, differing mainly in how much room he gives Jupiter and his eagle, and the fresco he finally painted took from both.