Renaissance Artists of Venice Part 2

In Part 1 on the Renaissance artists of Venice, I mentioned that they differed from some of the Florentine artists in that they painted during the High Renaissance and they used oil at their medium.

The North Carolina Museum of Art allowed visitors to take pictures of the art work, but I have to admit my phone didn’t do a very good job. So I will use the artists and find the art on line. The three artists who were featured were Titian, Bellini, and Carpaccio.

Titian is perhaps the most famous of all the Venetian Renaissance painters.  He was born Tiziano Vecelli and  was one of the most versatile of Italian painters, equally adept with landscapes, portraits, religious subjects and mythology. His use of color with oils exerted a profound influence on other painters during the Renaissance but also on future generations of artists. His artistry changed considerably during his life (he lived to be 86), ranging from the vivid, luminous colors of his early work to the loose brushwork and subtlety of tone that dominated his later work.

Titan, Christ Carrying the Cross, 1508

Gentile Bellini came from Venice’s leading family of painters and from 1474 he was the official portrait artist for the Doges of Venice. He also he painted a number of large subjects with multitudes of figures, especially for the wealthy confraternies (voluntary associations of Christian lay people) that were very important in Venetian patrician social life. Much of Gentile Bellini’s surviving work consists of very large paintings for public buildings.

Vittore Carpaccio was an apprentice with Gentile Bellini. He is best known for a cycle of nine painting, The Legend of Saint Ursula. His style was somewhat conservative, showing little influence from the Humanist trends that transformed Italian painting during the Renaissance.

The is Carpaccio’s Flight into Egypt, 1515 oil on panel. This was a popular subject in the early sixteenth century and this painting was likely done for a private residence. I loved this painting and spent a good while admiring it.

These are just a few of the wonderful paintings in this exhibit!

There were some works by lesser known but also talented artists in this exhibit which I will show in an additional post.