Giovanni Bellini - Delphi Complete Works of Giovanni Bellini (Illustrated)

Giovanni Bellini

(c. 1430-1516)

Contents

Delphi Classics 2017

Version 1

Masters of Art Series

Giovanni Bellini

By Delphi Classics, 2017

Masters of Art - Giovanni Bellini

First published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by Delphi Classics.

Delphi Classics, 2017.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 978 1 78656 506 8

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Venice, Italy Bellinis birthplace

Bellinis 1500 self portrait, Capitoline Museum, Rome

THE HIGHLIGHTS

In this section, a sample of Bellinis most celebrated works is provided, with concise introductions, special detail reproductions and additional biographical images.

Giovanni Bellini was born in Venice into a family of painters. His father was Jacopo Bellini, one of the founders of the Renaissance style of painting in northern Italy, and Giovannis brother was Gentile Bellini, who, during his lifetime, was more highly regarded than himself. Of even greater note was Giovannis brother-in-law, the painter Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431-1506) who achieved great fame as a master of perspective, establishing a workshop that became the leading producer of prints in Venice before 1500.

Giovanni was brought up in his fathers house, living and working closely with his brother Gentile. Up until the age of nearly thirty, his paintings exemplify a depth of religious feeling and human pathos, which he would develop into his own inimitable style. His paintings from the early period are all executed in the old tempera method, with the scene softened by a new and beautiful effect of romantic sunrise colour.

In a somewhat changed and more personal manner, with less harshness of contour and a broader treatment of forms and draperies, but not less force of religious feeling, Giovannis early works have often been linked both compositionally and stylistically to those of his brother-in-law, Mantegna. In 1470 Giovanni received his first appointment to work along with his brother and other artists in the Scuola di San Marco, where among other subjects he was commissioned to paint a Deluge with Noahs Ark . None of these works have survived.

Crucifixion , completed around 1455, is housed today in Venices Museo Correr, though it was originally produced for the church of San Salvador of Venice and forms part of the Mantegna-influenced phase of Bellinis early career. The tempera on panel painting illustrates the crucified Jesus, with pallid skin, set against a broad landscape background. The deep blue sky is populated by cherubim, lamenting his death, while in the lower section of the panel Mary weeps, her hands gripped in prayer, and Saint John looks up in trepidation, his fingers outstretched, conveying his intense devotion.

The background section of the panel reveals Bellinis interest in landscape, depicting a lake with a wooden bridge, a quarry, small houses and a series of small working figures. This fragmented, detailed composition was typical of the work of the artists father, Jacopo Bellini. In his later works this attention to landscape would be replaced by a more coherent focus on the main subject at hand. Other elements typical of Bellinis early works are the occasional loose painting strokes, the thin figures and sharp outlines, all indicating that this is less a mature and polished piece. Nevertheless, the extraordinary depth of pathos evoked by the weeping Mary, the awe-stricken Saint John and the suffering face of Christ effectively proclaim the unique skill of the young Bellini.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Self portrait of Bellinis brother-in-law, Andrea Mantegna, 1466

The Chiesa di San Salvatore, Venice where Bellinis early Crucifixion was first displayed

Throughout his career, Bellini would return to the iconographic theme of the Piet, a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus. The theme is a particular form of the Lamentation of Christ, a scene from the Passion found in cycles of the Life of Christ . When Christ and the Virgin are surrounded by other figures from the New Testament, the subject is strictly called a Lamentation in English, although Piet is often applied. During the late 1450s, Bellini painted the so-called Brera Piet, an image denoting extreme pity and mourning in which Mary and Saint John are seen holding Jesus. Below, on the wall of the grave, a short Latin inscription reads, Every time these tear-swollen eyes will provoke sobs, perhaps it will be Bellinis painting that is weeping. This is a fragment of a hymn from the first book of the Roman poet Propertius Elegies , affirming the artists formal education.

Devout emotion is expressed throughout, from the landscape that recalls Flemish antecedents to the lucid architectonic composition of the group and the abstract geometry of their movements, revealing the influence of Piero della Francesca. The passionate feeling is notable for its human and psychological aspect, rendering grief at its most universal expression and, at the same time, its most private and conscious element. The mothers pathetic gesture, as she leans towards her son, is echoed by Saint Johns averted head. The restricted landscape, with its road climbing up a hill and its torrent coursing below, pulsates with earthly life, adding a mundane contrast to the sorrowful scene in the foreground.