The Tempest, Giorgione circa 1505-1508 Oil painting of tempera 82cm x 73cm Accademia Venezia
One
In this issue→ let's talk about the Venetian School, which does not seem to be so famous compared to the Florentine School and the Roman School. Under the aura of the "Three Masters of the Renaissance", the light emitted by the Venetian School is somewhat different, and its arrival has written a finale for the Renaissance, so that it can end brilliantly.
Around the 10th century, Venice began to gradually break away from Byzantine rule, and by the 12th century it had become the largest commercial and trade center in northeast Italy, known as the "Republic of the Sea".
By the 15th century, the Florentine School had matured very well, while the Venetian School began to rise by the end of the 15th century with the development of the economy and the influence of other republics.
The Ecstasy of St. Francis, Woodblock Oil Engraving, 125x142cm, Bellini, 1480, Furnik Museum of Art, New York, USA
The blue waters and unique geographical location have given the painters of the region a different understanding of art, the subject matter of the Venetian school began to shift from religion to the world, comfortable climate, beautiful natural scenery, rich material foundation to bring people a hedonistic idea, the content presented by the Venetian school is more similar to the content style of the "Hellenistic" era of ancient Greece.
Color was the focus of the Venetian school, and the high fanaticism for worldly pleasures made the colors of the picture clear and warm, and a large number of brilliant colors and vivid shapes impacted the attention of the people of that era. More characters emerge from religious themes and become alive and warm.
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Next, let's take a look at the early representatives of the Venetian school: Bellini, Giorgione, Titian
- I. Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni Bellini (1431-1516), who was 22 years older than Leonardo da Vinci, is considered the founder of the Venetian school. He was the brother-in-law of Mantania, a representative of the Parthua school, and his brother-in-law.
Located in northern Italy, Padua was another important source of humanism besides Florence in the 15th century. The style formed by this school of painting is a solid foundation of modeling, a solid and powerful body, strong colors, and clear contours.
Bellini was influenced by this style in the early days of his creation, and in his early works, he mostly used tempera techniques, and he studied many Mantania's works, on the basis of which he transitioned his style from a serious and rigid religious style to a humane and warm style.
For example, "Distress in the Garden" is his early work, created between 1459 and 1465, and is now in the National Gallery in London. The painting depicts a scene of Jesus Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.
In the near vicinity, three disciples are asleep, and in the background, Judas leads the Roman armed forces to capture Jesus.
Distress in the Garden, Bellini, 1465, National Gallery, London
Jesus knew all this by this time, and when he realized that he was about to die, he did not panic, but only greeted it with a fearless prayer. In the upper right corner of the painting, an angel is sent to comfort Jesus with a cup in his hand, which symbolizes salvation and hope. This work is very much in the painting style of his brother-in-law, with bright silhouettes, bold colors, and strong characters.
In 1487, Bellini already had his own style, and "The Virgin with Little Trees" was the work of this period. This oil on wood panel, 58 cm in length and 74 cm in width, is in the collection of the Accademia Museum in Venice.
The painting places the Virgin in a tranquil and tranquil environment, with small trees on both sides and blue skies and distant mountains in the background. The painting focuses on the Virgin Mary, who holds the standing little Jesus in her arms. Although this is a relatively traditional religious theme painting, the work has no longer had the heavy atmosphere of traditional religious painting in the past, the bright blue, calm red, crisp yellow-green, bright colors make people refreshing, forming a unique bright color of the Venetian school.
The Virgin with the Little Tree, oil on woodblock 58*74*188cm Bellini 1487 The Ca' Capademia, Venice
Three
Bellini's late work, The Feast of the Gods, is 170 centimeters long and 188 centimeters wide, completed in 1514 two years before his death, and was later revised by several masters of art, such as Titian.
At this time, Bellini had begun to use light and shadow boldly, becoming more pure, bright and vivid in color, and smooth lyrical lines with a strong sense of rhythm. There are 17 figures in the picture, who are like people in the world, holding a feast in the open space of the forest, the gods are of different shapes, the eyes are very delicately portrayed, and their thoughts can be revealed from the eyes.
After Bellini, the Venetian school of painting with a harmonious and beautiful tone began to develop, and his student, Giorgione, was one of them.
A Feast of the Gods, oil on canvas, 170*188cm, Bellini, 1514, National Gallery, Washington
Four
II. Giorgione
Giorgione (c. 1476-1510), the successor of Bellini, studied art in his studio. He successfully developed Bellini's style and was a pioneer in shelf painting, and his appearance brought the Venetian school to maturity.
He went out with Titian, but was later kicked out of the studio by Bellini due to an unknowable error. After that, the two people had a deep relationship and often cooperated.
Giorgione's works are not only full of the aesthetics and elegance of the Venetian school, but also have the humanistic spirit of the Renaissance.
The Three Philosophers, also known as the Three Sages, was completed in 1509 and is 123 centimeters long and 144 centimeters wide, and is now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
The composition of the painting is very novel, and the three philosophers all live on the right side of the picture, while the left side is composed of seemingly misproportioned earth and rocks.
The Three Philosophers, 123*144cm, Giorgione, 1509, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
The contrast between the picture is strong, the darkness on the left and the light on the right make the picture form a strong contrast, the characters either stand or sit on the rocks, the background is a dry tree, and the hazy sky and the bright clothes of the characters in front of them also form a sharp contrast, making the characters stand out.
The subject of the entire painting is related to astronomy, and the young philosopher sitting in the painting is dressed in a white lining and emerald green robe, and he is holding a compass. The old man on the right is taking out from inside his robe a large piece of paper for calculating astronomy, which is titled "Celus", which means sky. That is to say, these three should be scholars of astronomy.
It is called a philosopher because studies have suggested that the work is related to Plato's theory of "caves":
Plato's description in the seventh paragraph of the Republic is to the effect that several prisoners were tied up in the cave, the puppets were placed at the mouth of the cave, and then the puppet's shadow was projected on the walls of the cave by ignition. The prisoner in the cave will think that this is the real image of the thing, and when a prisoner breaks free and turns to the puppet, he will know that this is not real.
This parable is to think that the real world is like this, mistaking what they see at the moment as the truth, not knowing that they are not peeking into the whole picture, and not seeing the truth of the world.
The strange mountain rock facing the young man in the picture is called a cave, and the man and other scholars are like prisoners in the cave, who seem to be trying to explore the truth, but still do not see the whole picture.
Judging from the dress, the youth represents the science of the Renaissance, the oriental people in the middle should be from the Arab region, and the old man on the right should be the scholar of the ancient Greek era.
From ancient times to the present, from old age to youth, Giorgione brings them across time and space, bringing them together with a common scientific belief, and the painter pours into this painting a passion for opposing religious confinement and advocating the humanities.
Another of Giorgione's famous works is the Pastoral Ensemble, painted between 1508 and 1509, 110 cm in length and 138 cm in width, and is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Two goddesses appear in the picture, possibly the muse or the Venus, and the nude treatment is a symbol of the gods.
Pastoral Ensemble, 110*138cm, Giorgione, 1509, Louvre, Paris
The goddess standing on the left holding a glass kettle is hailed as a symbol of tragic poetry, and the goddess sitting on the ground with a flute in her hand is a symbol of comedy or idyllic poetry of lower prestige than tragic poetry.
The young man sitting on the ground playing the lute is representative of lyric poetry, while the young man without a hat next to him symbolizes the ordinary lyricist.
Giorgione's painting was inspired by Aristotle's Poetry, which describes the differences between different poetic styles.
The work is set against the backdrop of the landscape, which has a dual function, with a multi-storey villa visible between the elegant and slender trees on the left, while in the dense woods on the right, shepherds are faintly visible playing bagpipes.
Reality and illusion, man and God all appear in the picture, but the effect is unusually unified and harmonious.
The emergence of beautiful, mature muses inspires us, and the harmony of landscape and character, color and line, reveals the close relationship between man and nature, poetry and music.
Giorgione died of plague in his 30s, he was strictly the first Venetian painter, his works have a high lyrical character, humanism and naturalism are harmoniously applied in his paintings, and his exploration and interpretation of man and nature have opened up a new situation in the Venetian school.
Graceful, gorgeous, soft and tranquil, these star-like styles are typical of the Venetian school, just like this city on the water, which opened another door for the Renaissance with extremely bright pictures.
In the next issue, we will talk about Titian, a fellow disciple of Giorgione, and continue our journey to the Venetian school.
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