Venetian school of painting: features and main representatives

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The constant thirst for celebration, a thriving trading port and the influence of the ideals of beauty and grandeur of the high Renaissance - all this contributed to the emergence of artists in Venice of the 15th and 16th centuries in order to bring elements of luxury into the art world. The Venetian school, which arose at this moment of cultural flourishing, breathed new life into the world of painting and architecture, combining the inspiration of the classically oriented predecessors and the new desire for rich color, with a special Venetian adoration for embellishment. Much of the work of the artists of this time, regardless of subject or content, was imbued with the idea that life should be seen through the prism of pleasure and enjoyment.

Short description

The Venetian school refers to a special, distinctive movement in art that developed in Renaissance Venice from the late 1400s, and which was led by the brothers Giovanni and GentileBellini developed until 1580. It is also called the Venetian Renaissance, and its style shares the humanistic values, use of linear perspective, and the naturalistic imagery of Renaissance art in Florence and Rome. The second term associated with this is the Venetian school of painting. It appeared during the early Renaissance and existed until the 18th century. Its representatives are artists such as Tiepolo, associated with two directions in art - Rococo and Baroque, Antonio Canaletto, known for his Venetian cityscapes, Francesco Guardi and others.

Key ideas

The innovative emphasis and peculiarities of the Venetian school of painting, associated with the use of color to create forms, made it different from the Florentine Renaissance, where they painted forms filled with color. This resulted in a revolutionary dynamism, an unprecedented richness of color and a special psychological expression in the works.

Artists in Venice mostly painted in oils, first on wood panels, and then began using canvas, which best suited the city's humid climate and emphasized the play of naturalistic light and atmosphere, as well as the dramatic, sometimes theatrical, movement of people.

At this time there was a revival of portraiture. The artists focused not on the idealized role of man, but on his psychological complexity. During this period, portraits began to depict most of the figure, and not just the head and bust.

It was then that new genres appeared, including grandiose images of mythical subjects and female nudes, while they did not act as a reflection of religious or historical motifs. Eroticism began to appear in these new forms of subject matter, not subject to moralistic attacks.

A new architectural trend that combined classical influences along with carved bas-reliefs and distinctive Venetian decorations became so popular that an entire private residence design industry sprang up in Venice.

Culture of Venice

Despite the fact that the Venetian school was aware of the innovations of the Renaissance masters such as Andrea Mantegna, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello and Michelangelo, its style reflected the special culture and society of the city of Venice.

Due to its prosperity, Venice was known throughout Italy as "the serene city". Due to its geographical position on the Adriatic Sea, it has become an important trade center linking West and East. As a result, the city-state was secular and cosmopolitan, emphasizing the idea of joy and richness of life rather than being guided by religious dogma. The inhabitants were proud of their independence and the stability of their government. The first doge or duke to rule Venice was elected in 697, and subsequent rulers were also elected by the Grand Council of Venice, a parliament made up of aristocrats and we althy merchants. Splendor, entertaining spectacles and lavish festivities, during which carnivals took place, lasting for several weeks,defined Venetian culture.

Unlike Florence and Rome, which were influenced by the Catholic Church, Venice was primarily associated with the Constantinople-centered Byzantine Empire that ruled Venice in the 6th and 7th centuries. As a result, Venetian art was influenced by the art of Byzantium, which was characterized by the use of bright colors and gold in church mosaics, and Venetian architecture was distinguished by the use of domes, arches and multi-colored stone characteristic of Byzantium, which, in turn, was associated with the influence of Islamic architecture. Central Asia.

By the mid-1400s, the city was gaining weight and influence in Italy, and Renaissance artists such as Andrea Mantegna, Donatello, Andrea del Castagno and Antonello da Messina visited or lived here for a long time. The Venetian school style synthesized Byzantine color and golden light with the innovations of these Renaissance artists.

Andrea Mantegna

The artist Andrea Mantegna pioneered the linear perspective, naturalistic figurative representation and classical proportions that were defining for Renaissance art in general and for Venetian artists in particular. Mantegna's influence can be seen in the Agony in the Garden by Giovanni Bellini (c. 1459-1465), which echoes Mantegna's Agony in the Garden (c. 1458-1460).

Antonello da Messina

He is considered the first Italian artist towhose individual portrait became an art form in its own right.

Antonello da Messina worked in Venice from 1475 to 1476 and had a noticeable influence on the paintings of Giovanni Bellini, his oil painting. It was de Messina who focused on portraiture. Antonello first encountered the art of the Northern European Renaissance while he was a student in Naples. As a result, his work was a synthesis of the Italian Renaissance and the principles of northern European art, influencing the development of a particular style of the Venetian school.

Giovanni Bellini, "father of Venetian painting"

Already in his early works, the artist used rich and bright light not only when depicting figures, but also in landscapes.

He and his elder brother Gentile were famous for the Bellini family workshop, which was the most popular and famous in Venice. At an early stage in the work of the Bellini brothers, religious themes were the main ones, for example, the “Procession of the True Cross” (1479), written by Gentile, and the works of Giovanni depicting the flood and Noah's Ark (circa 1470). Giovanni Bellini's works with images of the Madonna and the baby were especially popular. This image was very close to him, and the works themselves were filled with color and light, conveying all the beauty of the world. At the same time, Giovanni's emphasis on the depiction of natural light and the combination of Renaissance principles with a special Venetian style of color rendering made him one of the main representatives of the Venetian school.

Concepts and trends in portraiture

Giovanni Bellini was the first great portraitist among Venetian painters, since his portrait of the Doge Leonardo Loredan (1501) presented an amazing image that, being naturalistic and conveying the play of light and color, idealized the person depicted on it, and together with this emphasized his social role as head of Venice. The famous work fueled the demand for portraits from aristocrats and we althy merchants, who were quite satisfied with the naturalistic approach, which at the same time conveyed their social significance.

Giorgione and Titian pioneered a new kind of portraiture. The Portrait of a Young Woman by Giorgione (1506) introduced a new genre of erotic portraiture, which subsequently became widespread. In his paintings, Titian expanded the view of the subject to include most of the figure. This is clearly seen in his "Portrait of Pope Paul III" (1553). Here the artist emphasized not the idealized role of the clergyman, but the psychological component of the image.

The eminent representative of the Venetian school of painting, Paolo Veronese, also painted portraits of this type, as can be seen in the example of the “Portrait of a Gentleman” (c. 1576-1578), which depicts an aristocrat dressed in black clothes, standing at gable with columns.

Jacopo Tintoretto was also known for his attractive portraits.

Display mythology in pictures

Bellini first usedmythological subject in his Feast of the Gods (1504). Titian further developed the genre in depictions of Bacchanalia, such as his Bacchus and Ariadne (1522-1523). These paintings were painted for the private gallery of the Duke of Ferrera. Titian's Bacchus and Ariadne (1522-1523) depicts Bacchus, the god of wine, with his followers at the dramatic moment when Ariadne has just realized that her lover has abandoned her.

Venetian patrons paid special attention to art based on classical Greek myths, since such images, not limited to religious or moralistic messages, could be used to display eroticism and hedonism. Titian's work included a wide range of mythological imagery, and he produced six large paintings for King Philip II of Spain, including his Danaë (1549-1550), a woman seduced by Zeus who appeared as sunlight, and Venus and Adonis (ca. 1552-1554), a painting depicting a goddess and her mortal lover.

Mythological contexts also played a role in the emergence of the female nude genre, in particular Giorgione's Sleeping Venus (1508) was the first such painting. Titian developed the theme by emphasizing the eroticism inherent in the male gaze, as in Venus of Urbino (1534). Judging by the titles, both of these works have a mythological context, although their pictorial representation of images does not have any visual reference to the goddess. Other similar works by Titian include Venus and Cupid (c. 1550).

Trend to display mythological scenes, sopopular among the Venetians, it also influenced the style of presenting scenes to contemporary artists, such as dramatic spectacles, as seen in Paolo Veronese's The Feast in the House of Levi (1573), painted on a monumental scale, measuring 555 × 1280 cm.

Influence of Venetian Art

The decline of the 16th century Venetian school of painting began around 1580, partly due to the impact the plague had on the city, as it lost a third of its population by 1581, and partly due to the death of the last Veronese masters and Tintoretto. The later works of both Venetian Renaissance painters, emphasizing expressive movement rather than classical proportions and figurative naturalism, had some influence on the development of the Mannerists, who later dominated Italy and spread throughout Europe.

However, the emphasis of the Venetian school on color, light and the enjoyment of the sensual life, as seen in the work of Titian, also created a contrast with the Mannerist approach and the baroque works of Caravaggio and Annibale Carracci. This school had an even greater impact outside of Venice, as kings and aristocrats from all over Europe avidly collected works. Artists in Antwerp, Madrid, Amsterdam, Paris and London, including Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Rembrandt, Poussin and Velasquez, were strongly influenced by the art of the Venetian school of Renaissance painting. The story goes that Rembrandt, while still a young artist, was visitingItaly said it was easier to see Italian Renaissance art in Amsterdam than traveling from city to city in Italy itself.

Architecture was greatly influenced by Palladio, especially in England, where Christopher Wren, Elizabeth Wilbraham, Richard Boyle and William Kent adopted his style. Inigo Jones, called "the father of British architecture", built the Queen's House (1613-1635), the first classical building in England based on Palladio's designs. In the 18th century, Palladio's designs appeared in the architecture of the United States. Thomas Jefferson's own home in Monticello and the Capitol building were largely influenced by Palladio, and Palladio was named "Father of American Architecture" in a 2010 US Congressional Executive Order.

Beyond the Renaissance

The works of the artists of the Venetian School of Painting continued to be special. As a result, the term continued to be used well into the 18th century. Representatives of the Venetian school of painting, such as Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, expanded their distinct style into both Rococo and Baroque styles. Other artists of the 18th century are also known, such as Antonio Canaletto, who painted Venetian cityscapes, and Francesco Guardi. His work later greatly influenced the French Impressionists.

Vittore Carpaccio (born 1460, Venice – died 1525/26, Venice) is one of the greatest representatives of Venetian artists. He may have been a student of Lazzaro Bastiani, but the main influence on his earlycreativity was provided by the students of Gentile Bellini and Antonello da Messina. The style of his work suggests that he may have also been in Rome as a young man. Virtually nothing is known about Vittore Carpaccio's early works because he did not sign them, and there is little evidence that he wrote them. Around 1490, he began to create a cycle of scenes from the legend of Saint Ursula for the Scuola di Santa Orsola, which are now in the galleries of the Venice Academy. During this period, he became a mature artist. The genre dream scene of St. Ursula was especially prized for its richness of naturalistic detail.

The panoramic images of Carpaccio's paintings, processions and other public gatherings are rich in realistic detail, sunny colors and dramatic narratives. His incorporation of realistic figures into an ordered and coherent space of perspective made him a forerunner of the Venetian cityscape painters.

Francesco Guardi (1712-1793, born and died in Venice), one of the outstanding landscape painters of the Rococo era.

The artist himself, together with his brother Nicolò (1715-86), studied under Giovanni Antonio Guardi. Their sister Cecilia married Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. For a long time the brothers worked together. Francesco is one of the prominent representatives of such a picturesque direction as the veduta, a characteristic feature of which was a detailed depiction of the urban landscape. He painted these paintings until about the mid-1750s.

In 1782, he depicted official celebrations inhonor of Grand Duke Paul's visit to Venice. Later that year, he was commissioned by the Republic to make similar images of Pius VI's visit. He enjoyed considerable support from the British and other foreigners and was elected to the Venice Academy in 1784. He was an extremely prolific artist, whose brilliant and romantic images contrast markedly with the transparent displays of architecture by Canaletto, head of the veduta school.

Giambattista Pittoni (1687-1767) was a leading Venetian painter of the early 18th century. He was born in Venice and studied with his uncle Francesco. As a young man he painted frescoes such as "Justice and the World of Justice" in Palazzo Pesaro, Venice.

Francesco Fontebasso (Venice, 1707-1769) is one of the main representatives of the eighteenth century, which is somewhat unusual for Venetian painting. A very active and good artist, an experienced decorator, depicting almost everything on his canvases, from scenes of everyday life and historical images to portraits, he also demonstrated good skills and mastery of a wide variety of techniques in graphics. He began to work on religious themes for Maninov, first in the chapel of the Villa Passariano (1732) and then in Venice in a Jesuit church, where he made two frescoes on the ceiling with Elijah captured in the sky and angels appearing before Abraham.