GIOVANNI BELLINI AND THE BIRTH OF THE VENETIAN RENAISSANCE
Giovanni Bellini (ca. 1435-1516) is widely considered as the most important figure in Venetian art in the last quarter of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century. He is celebrated for his pioneering portrayal of natural light, and his tender and graceful representations of human figures - particularly the Virgin Mary. In the course of his career, which spanned 65 years, he was influenced by artists like Antonello da Messina and Mantegna, and was a mentor of younger ones like Giorgione and Titian. When the great German artist Albrecht Durer met him in Venice in 1506, he described him as "very old" but still "the best painter of all." This four-part series provides a closer look at his oeuvre within this broader context and his singular contribution to the Venetian Renaissance.
A Family of Painters - Jacopo, Gentile, and Giovanni Bellini
Painter of the Virgin
Portraits and Stories
Bellini and his Students
VITTORE CARPACCIO: PAINTING AND STORYTELLING IN RENAISSANCE VENICE
A leading figure in the art of Renaissance Venice, Vittore Carpaccio (c. 1460/1466–1525/1526) is best known for his large, spectacular narrative paintings that brought sacred history to life. Although for centuries he has been loved and celebrated in his native city for his observant eye, fertile imagination, and storytelling prowess, his works have seldom been showcased in major exhibitions
This fall, the National Gallery of Art is hosting the first retrospective of the artist ever held outside Italy. On view between November 20 and February 12, this exhibition of 45 paintings and about 30 drawings that demonstrate the artist’s originality, inventiveness, and special gift for story telling.
Join us for this series of lectures that places Carpaccio in the context of the Venetian painting of his time.
Carpaccio and his Venetian contemporaries
Devotional images and genre scenes
The art of pictorial narrative
TITIAN: BETWEEN THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE
Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) is the single most important artist of Renaissance Venice – but also, one of the most influential of the ‘old masters.’ Born around 1490, his career spanned seven decades. Upon his death in 1576, he was one of the most celebrated artists of Europe. In this series of lectures, we explore the evolution of his pictorial language – from his earliest works created under the influence of Giorgione, to those of his last years, which exemplify the very idea of painterly style.
1. In the orbit of Bellini and Giorgione
2. Titian ‘Sacred and Profane’
3. Titian and the art of portraiture
4. The tragic mythologies for Philip II
5. The triumph of colorito
TITIAN'S LATE MYTHOLOGIES
The six works on mythological subjects created by Titian for Philip II of Spain between 1551 and 1562 are widely regarded as landmarks of western painting. This fall, they come to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the last venue on an itinerary that began at the National Gallery in London and continued to the Prado in Madrid. The exhibition, on view between August 12, 2021 and January 2, 2022, represents a unique opportunity to view these paintings together for the first time after more than four hundred years.
In this series of lectures, we explore these six “painted poetries” in their wider context by comparing them to representations of those myths by other artists of the period, as well as through a closer analysis of the literary sources on which they are based – most importantly, Ovid’s poem The Metamorphoses.
1. Love against Nature: Venus and Adonis and Danae
2. The Danger of Sight: Diana and Actaeon and Diana and Calisto
3. The Rescue or Violence against Beauty: Andromeda and Europa
JACOPO TINTORETTO
Jacopo Tintoretto is one of the most brilliant artists of 16th century Venice. Yet, despite his prolific output and his astonishing inventiveness, he has always been in the shadow of his much more famous contemporary, Titian. Another reason for his comparably lesser art historical renown is that many of his best works have never left his native city. Painted for churches, scuole, or other public buildings, they can still best be admired in situ. This three-part series allows us to explore them in great depth - albein in the virtual realm.
1. The young artist - in and around Titian
2. Tintoretto between the Sacred and the Profane
3. Scuola di San Rocco and Late Works
PAOLO VERONESE
Paolo Veronese is the youngest of the great Venetian artists of the 16th century. A proliffic painter in a variety of genres and media, he created some of the most remarkable works inspired by classical mythology - as well as some of the most exceptional visual interpretations of scenes drawn from the Bible. Indeed, one of his most amitious religious paintings created such a controversy that he was brought before the Inquisition. In this three-part series, we look more closely at some of his most important works - from portraits to great fresco cycles.
1. Veronese among Art Lovers: Portraits and Fables
2. Veronese's Reform of the Sacred
3. The Frescos for San Sebastiano