Giorgio Barbarelli
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco (; 1470s – 17 September 1510), known as Giorgione, was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the
High Renaissance In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...
, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic quality of his work, though only about six surviving paintings are firmly attributed to him. The uncertainty surrounding the identity and meaning of his work has made Giorgione one of the most mysterious figures in European art. Together with his younger contemporary
Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...
, he founded the Venetian school of
Italian Renaissance painting Italian Renaissance painting is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring in the Italian Peninsula, which was at that time divided into many political stat ...
, characterised by its use of colour and mood. The school is traditionally contrasted with Florentine painting, which relied on a more linear disegno-led style.


Life

What little is known of Giorgione's life is given in
Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...
's ''
Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' () is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-century Italian painter and architect Giorgio Vasari, which is considered "perhaps the most famous, and even today the ...
''. He came from the small town of
Castelfranco Veneto Castelfranco Veneto () is a town and (municipality) of Veneto, northern Italy, in the province of Treviso. It is the third largest municipality in the province by population after the capital Treviso and Conegliano. It is centrally located betwe ...
, 40 km inland from Venice. His name sometimes appears as ''Zorzo''; the variant ''Giorgione'' (or ''Zorzon'') may be translated "Big George". It is unclear how early in boyhood he went to Venice, but stylistic evidence supports the statement of Carlo Ridolfi that he served his apprenticeship there under
Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 29 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father, ...
; there he settled and rose to prominence as a master. Contemporary documents record that his talent was recognized early. In 1500, when he was in his twenties, he was chosen to paint portraits of the
Doge Doge, DoGE or DOGE may refer to: Internet culture * Doge (meme), an Internet meme primarily associated with the Shiba Inu dog breed ** Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency named after the meme ** Kabosu (dog), the dog portrayed in the original Doge image ...
Agostino Barbarigo and the
condottiere Condottieri (; singular: ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian military leaders active during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The term originally referred specifically to commanders of mercenary companies, derived from the ...
Consalvo Ferrante. In 1504, he was commissioned to paint an altarpiece in memory of another condottiere, Matteo Costanzo, in the cathedral of his native town, Castelfranco. In 1507, he received, at the order of the
Council of Ten The Council of Ten (; ), or simply the Ten, was from 1310 to 1797 one of the major governing bodies of the Republic of Venice. Elections took place annually and the Council of Ten had the power to impose punishments upon Venetian nobility, patric ...
, partial payment for a picture (subject unknown) in which he was engaged for the Hall of the Audience in the
Doge's Palace The Doge's Palace (''Doge'' pronounced ; ; ) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic architecture, Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace included government offices, a jail, and th ...
. From 1507 to 1508 he was employed, with other artists of his generation, to decorate with frescoes the exterior of the newly rebuilt
Fondaco dei Tedeschi The ''Fondaco dei Tedeschi'', a historic building in Venice, Italy, is situated along the Grand Canal, close to the iconic Rialto Bridge. It was a hostel and a warehouse for the city's German ''(Tedeschi)'' merchants and their imports. After b ...
(or German Merchants' Hall) at Venice, having already done similar work on the exterior of the Casa Soranzo, the Casa Grimani alli Servi and other Venetian palaces. Very little of this work now survives. Vasari mentions his meeting with
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...
on the occasion of the Tuscan master's visit to Venice in 1500. All accounts agree in representing Giorgione as a person of distinguished and romantic charm, a great lover and a musician, given to express in his art the sensuous and imaginative grace, touched with poetic melancholy, of Venetian life of his time. They represent him further as having made in Venetian painting an advance analogous to that made in Tuscan painting by Leonardo more than twenty years before. He was very closely associated with
Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...
; although Vasari says that Titian was Giorgione's disciple, Ridolfi says that they both were pupils of
Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 29 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father, ...
and lived together in his home. They worked together on the Fondaco dei Tedeschi frescoes, and Titian finished at least some paintings of Giorgione after his death, although which ones remains controversial. Giorgione also introduced a new range of subjects. Besides
altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...
s and portraits he painted pictures that told no story, whether biblical or classical, or if they professed to tell a story, neglected the action and simply embodied in form and color moods of lyrical or romantic feeling, much as a musician might embody them in sounds. Innovating with the courage and felicity of genius, he had for a time an overwhelming influence on his contemporaries and immediate successors in the Venetian school, including
Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...
,
Sebastiano del Piombo Sebastiano del Piombo (; – 21 June 1547) was an Italian painter of the High Renaissance and early Mannerism, Mannerist periods, famous as the only major artist of the period to combine the colouring of the Venetian School (art), Venetian scho ...
,
Palma il Vecchio Palma Vecchio ( – 30 July 1528), born Jacopo Palma, also known as Jacopo Negretti, was a Venetian painter of the Italian High Renaissance. He is called Palma Vecchio in English and Palma il Vecchio in Italian ("Palma the Elder") to distingu ...
, il Cariani, Giulio Campagnola (and his brother), and even on his already eminent master, Giovanni Bellini. In the Venetian mainland, ''Giorgionismo'' strongly influenced
Morto da Feltre Morto da Feltre was an Italian Painting, painter of the Venetian School (art), Venetian school who worked at the close of the 15th century and beginning of the 16th. Biography His real name appears to have been Pietro Luzzo, Pietro LuciStefano ...
, Domenico Capriolo, and Domenico Mancini. Giorgione died of the plague then raging, on the 17th of September, 1510. He was usually thought to have died and been buried on the island of Poveglia in the Venetian lagoon, but an archival document published for the first time in 2011 places his death on the island of Lazzareto Nuovo; both were used as places of
quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...
in times of plague. October 1510 is also the date of a letter by
Isabella d'Este Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474 – 13 February 1539) was the Marchioness of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion ...
to a Venetian friend; asking him to buy a painting by Giorgione; the letter shows she was aware he was already dead. Significantly, the reply a month later said the painting was not to be had at any price. His name and work continue to exercise a spell on posterity. But to identify and define, among the relics of his age and school, precisely what that work is, and to distinguish it from the similar work of other men whom his influence inspired, is a very difficult matter. Although there are no longer any supporters of the "Pan Giorgionismus" which a century ago claimed for Giorgione nearly every painting of the time that at all resembles his manner, there are still, as then, exclusive critics who reduce to half a dozen the list of extant pictures that they will admit to be by this painter.


Works

For his home town of Castelfranco, Giorgione painted the '' Castelfranco Madonna'', an
altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...
in
sacra conversazione In art, a (; plural: ''sacre conversazioni''), meaning "holy (or sacred) conversation", is a genre developed in Italian Renaissance painting, with a depiction of the Virgin and Child (the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus) amidst a group of sain ...
form—
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
enthroned, with saints on either side forming an equilateral triangle. This gave the landscape background an importance which marks an innovation in Venetian art, and was quickly followed by his master
Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 29 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father, ...
and others. Giorgione began to use the very refined
chiaroscuro In art, chiaroscuro ( , ; ) is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to ach ...
called
sfumato Sfumato ( , ; , i.e. 'blurred') is a painting technique for softening the transition between colours, mimicking an area beyond what the human eye is focusing on, or the out-of-focus plane. It is one of the canonical painting modes of the Renaissan ...
—the delicate use of shades of color to depict light and perspective—around the same time as Leonardo. Whether Vasari is correct in saying he learned it from Leonardo's works is unclear—he is always keen to ascribe all advances to Florentine sources. Leonardo's delicate color modulations result from the tiny disconnected spots of paint that he probably derived from
Illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...
techniques and first brought into oil painting. These gave Giorgione's works the magical glow of light for which they are celebrated. Most central and typical of all of Giorgione's extant works is the '' Sleeping Venus'' now in
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
. It was first recognized by Giovanni Morelli, and is now universally accepted, as being the same as the picture seen by Marcantonio Michiel and later by Ridolfi (his 17th-century biographer) in the Casa Marcello at Venice. An exquisitely pure and severe rhythm of line and contour chastens the sensuous richness of the painting. The sweep of white drapery on which the goddess lies; and the glowing landscape that fills the space behind her; most harmoniously frame her divinity. The use of an external landscape to frame a nude is innovative; but in addition, to add to her mystery, she is shrouded in sleep, spirited away from accessibility to any conscious expression. It is recorded by Michiel that Giorgione left this piece unfinished and that the landscape, with a
Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid ( , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known as Amor (Latin: ...
which subsequent restoration has removed, were completed after his death by Titian. The picture is the prototype of Titian's own ''
Venus of Urbino The ''Venus of Urbino'' (also known as ''Reclining Venus'') is an oil painting by Italian painter Titian, depicting a nude young woman, traditionally identified with the goddess Venus, reclining on a couch or bed in the sumptuous surroundings o ...
'' and of many more by other painters of the school; but none of them attained the fame of the first exemplar. The same concept of idealized beauty is evoked in a virginally pensive ''
Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...
'' from the
Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...
, a large painting which exhibits Giorgione's special qualities of color richness and landscape romance, while demonstrating that life and death are each other's companions rather than foes. Apart from the altarpiece and the frescoes, all Giorgione's surviving works are small paintings designed for the wealthy Venetian collector to keep in his home; most are under two feet (60 cm) in either dimension. This market had been emerging over the last half of the 15th century in Italy, and was much better established in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, but Giorgione was the first major Italian painter to concentrate his work on it to such an extent—indeed soon after his death the size of paintings began to increase with the prosperity and palaces of the patrons. ''
The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...
'' has been called the first
landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...
in the history of
Western painting The history of Western painting represents a continuous, though disrupted, tradition from classical antiquity, antiquity until the present time. Until the mid-19th century it was primarily concerned with Representational art, representational ...
. The subject of this painting is unclear, but its artistic mastery is apparent. ''The Tempest'' portrays a man and a breast-feeding woman on either side of a stream, amid a city's rubble and an incoming storm. The multitude of symbols in ''The Tempest'' offer many interpretations, but none is wholly satisfying. Theories that the painting is about duality (city and country, male and female) have been dismissed since
radiography Radiography is an imaging technology, imaging technique using X-rays, gamma rays, or similar ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation to view the internal form of an object. Applications of radiography include medical ("diagnostic" radiog ...
has shown that in the earlier stages of the painting the man to the left was a seated female nude. '' The Three Philosophers'' is equally enigmatic and its attribution to Giorgione is still disputed. The three figures stand near a dark empty cave. Sometimes interpreted as symbols of Plato's cave or the
Three Magi In Christianity, the Biblical Magi ( or ; singular: ), also known as the Three Wise Men, Three Kings, and Three Magi, are distinguished foreigners who visit Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh in homage to hi ...
, they seem lost in a typical Giorgionesque dreamy mood, reinforced by a hazy light characteristic of his other landscapes, such as the '' Pastoral Concert'', now in the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
. The latter "reveals the Venetians' love of textures", because the painter "renders almost palpable the appearance of flesh, fabric, wood, stone, and foliage". The painting is devoid of harsh contours and its treatment of landscape has been frequently compared to pastoral poetry, hence the title. Giorgione and the young
Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...
revolutionized the genre of the
portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...
as well. It is exceedingly difficult and sometimes simply impossible to differentiate Titian's early works from those of Giorgione. None of Giorgione's paintings are signed and only one bears a reliable date: his portrait of ''Laura'' (1 June 1506), one of the first to be painted in the "modern manner", distinguished by dignity, clarity, and sophisticated characterization. Even more striking is the '' Portrait of a Young Man'' now in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, acclaimed by art historians for "the indescribably subtle expression of serenity and the immobile features, added to the chiseled effect of the silhouette and modeling". Few of the portraits attributed to Giorgione appear as straightforward records of the appearance of a commissioning individual, although it is entirely possible that many are. Many can be read as types designed to express a mood or atmosphere, and certainly many of the examples of the portrait tradition Giorgione initiated appear to have had this purpose, and not to have been sold to the sitter. The subjects of his non-religious figure paintings are equally hard to discern. Perhaps the first question to ask is whether there was intended to be a specific meaning to these paintings that ingenious research can hope to recover. Many art historians argue that there is not: "The best evidence, perhaps, that Giorgione's pictures were not particularly esoteric in their meaning is provided by the fact that while his stylistic innovations were widely adopted, the distinguishing feature of virtually all Venetian non-religious painting in the first half of the 16th century is the lack of learned or literary content".


Attributions

Attributions of work by Giorgione's hand dates from soon after his death, when some of his paintings were completed by other artists, and his considerable reputation also led to very early erroneous claims of attribution. The vast bulk of documentation for paintings in this period relates to large commissions for Church or government; the small domestic panels that make up the bulk of Giorgione's oeuvre are always far less likely to be recorded. Other artists continued to work in his style for some years, and probably by the mid-century deliberately deceptive work had started. Primary documentation for attributions comes from the Venetian collector Marcantonio Michiel. In notes dating from 1525 to 1543 he identifies twelve paintings and one drawing as by Giorgione, of which five of the paintings are identified virtually unanimously with surviving works by art historians: ''The Tempest'', ''The Three Philosophers'', ''Sleeping Venus'', ''Boy with an Arrow'', and '' Shepherd with a Flute'' (not all accept the last as by Giorgione however). Michiel describes the ''Philosophers'' as having been completed by Sebastiano del Piombo, and the ''Venus'' as finished by Titian (it is now generally agreed that Titian did the landscape). Some recent art historians also involve Titian in the ''Three Philosophers''. The ''Tempest'' is therefore the only one of the group universally accepted as wholly by Giorgione. In addition, the ''Castelfranco Altarpiece'' in his hometown has rarely, if ever, been doubted, nor have the wrecked fresco fragments from the German warehouse. The Vienna ''Laura'' is the only work with his name and the date (1506). This is on the back and is not necessarily by his own hand, but does appear to come from the period. The early pair of paintings in the
Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of th ...
are usually accepted. After that, things become more complicated, as exemplified by
Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work '' Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ide ...
. In the first edition of the ''Vite'' (1550), he attributed a '' Christ Carrying the Cross'' to Giorgione; in the second edition completed in 1568 he ascribed authorship, variously, to Giorgione in his biography, which was printed in 1565, and to Titian in his, printed in 1567. He had visited Venice in between these dates, and may have obtained different information. The uncertainty in distinguishing between the painting of Giorgione and the young Titian is most apparent in the case of the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
's '' Pastoral Concert'' (or ''Fête champêtre''), described in 2003 as "perhaps the most contentious problem of attribution in the whole of Italian Renaissance art," but affects a large number of paintings possibly from Giorgione's last years. The ''Pastoral Concert'' is one of a small group of paintings, including the ''Virgin and Child with Saint Anthony and Saint Roch'' in the
Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th century, based on ...
, which are very close in style and, according to Charles Hope, have been "more and more frequently given to Titian, not so much because of any very compelling resemblance to his undisputed early works—which would surely have been noted before—as because he seemed a less implausible candidate than Giorgione. But no one has been able to create a coherent sequence of Titian's early works that includes these ones, in a way that commands general support, and fits the known facts of his career. An alternative proposal is to assign the ''Pastoral Concert'' and the other pictures like it to a third artist, the very obscure Domenico Mancini." While Crowe and Cavalcaselle considered the ''Concert'' from Palazzo Pitti as Giorgione's masterpiece but disattributed the Louvre's ''Pastoral Concert'', Lermolieff reinstated the ''Pastoral Concert'' and claimed instead that the Pitti ''Concert'' was by Titian. Giulio Campagnola, well known as the engraver who translated the Giorgionesque style into prints, but none of whose paintings are securely identified, is also sometimes also brought into consideration. For example, the late W.R. Rearick gave him ''Il Tramonto'' (see Gallery) and he is an alternative choice for a number of drawings that might be by Titian or Giorgione, and both are sometimes credited with the design of some of his engravings. A group of paintings from an earlier period in Giorgione's short career is sometimes described as the "Allendale group", after the ''Allendale Nativity'' (or ''Allendale Adoration of the Shepherds'', rather more correctly) in the National Gallery of Art, Washington. This group includes another Washington painting, the ''Holy Family'', and an ''Adoration of the Magi''
predella In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...
panel in the
National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current dire ...
. The paintings in this group, now often expanded to include a very similar ''Adoration of the Shepherds'' in Vienna, and sometimes other works, are increasingly included in or sometimes excluded from Giorgione's oeuvre. Ironically, the ''Allendale Nativity'' caused the rupture in the 1930s between Lord Duveen, who sold it to Samuel Kress as a Giorgione, and his expert
Bernard Berenson Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865 – October 6, 1959) was an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance. His book ''The Drawings of the Florentine Painters'' was an international success. His wife Mary is thought to have had a large ...
, who insisted it was an early Titian. Berenson had played a significant part in reducing the Giorgione catalogue, recognising fewer than twenty paintings. Matters are further complicated because no drawing can be certainly identified as by Giorgione (although one in Rotterdam is widely accepted), and a number of aspects of the arguments over the defining of Giorgione's late style involve drawings. Despite being greatly praised by contemporary writers and remaining a great name in Italy, Giorgione became less known to the wider world, and many of his (probable) paintings were assigned to others. The Hermitage ''Judith'' for example, was long regarded as a
Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...
, and the Dresden ''Venus'' a Titian. In the late 19th century a great Giorgione revival began, and the fashion ran the other way. Despite well over a century of dispute, controversy remains active. Large numbers of pictures attributed to Giorgione a century ago, in particular portraits, are now firmly excluded from his oeuvre, but debate is, if anything, more fierce now than then. There are effectively two fronts on which the battles are fought: paintings with figures and landscape, and portraits. According to David Rosand in 1997, "The situation has been thrown into new critical confusion by Alessandro Ballarin's radical revision of the corpus ... aris exhibition catalogue, 1993, increasing it... as well as Mauro Lucco ... ilan book, 1996" Recent major exhibitions at Vienna and Venice in 2004 and Washington in 2006, have given art historians further opportunities to see disputed works side by side (see External links below). But the situation remains confused; in 2012 Charles Hope complained: "In fact, there are only three paintings known today for which there is clear and credible early evidence that they were by him. Despite this, he is now generally credited with between twenty and forty paintings. But most of these ... bear no resemblance to the three just mentioned. Some of them might be by Giorgione, but in most cases there is no way of telling".


Legacy

Although he died in his thirties, Giorgione left a lasting legacy to be developed by Titian and 17th-century artists. Giorgione never subordinated line and colour to architecture, nor an artistic effect to a sentimental presentation. Yet, Vasari wrote, " iorgionistudied drawing 'disegno''and relished it. And in this .e., ''disegno''nature favored him so highly, that he ... acquired the name ... of having surpassed Giovanni and Gentile Bellini.... Titian, then, having seen the method and manner of Giorgione, abandoned the manner Giambellino .e., Giovanni Bellini... and attached himself to that f Giorgione..." Giorgioni was arguably the first Italian to paint landscapes with figures as movable pictures in their own frames with no devotional, allegorical, or historical purpose—and the first whose colours possessed that ardent, glowing, and melting intensity which was so soon to typify the work of all the Venetian School.


Selected works

* '' The Test of Fire of Moses'' (1500–1501) - Oil on panel, 89 x 72,
Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of th ...
,
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
* '' The Judgement of Solomon'' (1500–1501) - Oil on panel, 89 x 72 cm, Uffizi, Florence *
Judith
' (c. 1504) - Oil on canvas, transferred from panel, 144 x 66,5 cm,
Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...
,
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
* '' Adoration of the Shepherds'' (c. 1505–10) - Oil on panel, 90.8 x 110.5 cm,
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
,
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
* '' Castelfranco Madonna'' (''Madonna and Child Enthroned between St. Francis and St. Nicasius''); c. 1505 - Oil on wood, 200 x 152 cm, Duomo,
Castelfranco Veneto Castelfranco Veneto () is a town and (municipality) of Veneto, northern Italy, in the province of Treviso. It is the third largest municipality in the province by population after the capital Treviso and Conegliano. It is centrally located betwe ...
* '' Portrait of a Young Bride (Laura)'' (c. 1506) Oil on wood, 41 x 33,5 cm,
Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...
,
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
* ''
The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...
'' (''La Zingara e il Soldato'') (''La Zingarella e il Soldato'') (c. 1508) - Oil on canvas, 82 x 73 cm,
Gallerie dell'Accademia The Gallerie dell'Accademia is a museum gallery of pre-19th-century art in Venice, northern Italy. It is housed in the Scuola della Carità on the south bank of the Grand Canal, within the sestiere of Dorsoduro. It was originally the gallery o ...
, Venice
* '' La Vecchia (Old Woman)'' (c. 1508) - Oil on canvas, 68 x 59 cm, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice * '' Pastoral Concert'' (c. 1509) now widely attributed to Titian- Oil on canvas, 110 x 138 cm,
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
, Paris
* '' Portrait of a Youth'' (1508–10) - Oil on canvas, 72,5 x 54 cm,
Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest) The Museum of Fine Arts (, ) is a museum in Heroes' Square (Budapest), Heroes' Square, Budapest, Hungary, facing the Kunsthalle Budapest, Palace of Art. It was built by the plans of Albert Schickedanz and Fülöp Herzog in an Eclecticism in ar ...
* '' The Three Philosophers'' (1509) - Oil on canvas,
Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...
, Vienna
*
Portrait of Warrior with his Equerry
' (c. 1509) - Oil on canvas, 90 x 73 cm, Uffizi, Florence * '' Sleeping Venus'' (c. 1510) - Oil on canvas, 108,5 x 175 cm,
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister The (, ''Old Masters Gallery'') in Dresden, Germany, displays around 750 paintings from the 15th to the 18th centuries. It includes major Italian Renaissance painting, Italian Renaissance works as well as Dutch Golden Age painting, Dutch and F ...
, Dresden
*
The Impassioned Singer
' (c. 1510) - Oil on canvas, 102 x 78 cm,
Galleria Borghese The or Borghese Gallery is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana. At the outset, the gallery building was integrated with its gardens, but nowadays the Villa Borghese gardens are considered a separate touri ...
, Rome
*
Portrait of a Young Man
' - Wood, 69,4 x 53,5 cm,
Alte Pinakothek, Munich The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pinak ...
* ''Young Man with Arrow'' ( Garçon à la flèche) ''(Knabe mit Pfeil) (L'enfant à la flèche) (sometimes attributed)''


Gallery

Giorgione - The Adoration of the Kings - Google Art Project.jpg, One of the "Allendale group", the small ''Adoration of the Magi''
predella In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...
, London Giorgione 060.jpg, ''Young Man with Arrow'', (1506?)
Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...
, Vienna Giorgione - Judith.jpg, ''
Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...
'', Hermitage Museum Col tempo by Giorgione.jpg, ''La Vecchia'', "The Old Woman", Accademia. The paper she holds reads, "Col tempo" or "With time". Giorgione 042.jpg, ''Il Tramonto'', London, little known until the middle of the 20th century, and still a controversial attribution Giorgione - Portrait of a young man - Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.jpg, The Berlin '' Giustiniani Portrait'' (or ''Portrait of a Man''), one of the most frequently attributed portraits Palma il Vecchio 003.jpg, The San Diego ''Portrait of a Man'', another of the more frequently attributed portraits Giorgione Budapest 01.jpg, The Budapest ''Portrait of a Young Man'', damaged Tizian 080.jpg, ''Portrait of a Venetian Gentleman'', by Giorgione and
Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...
1510 –
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
Giorgione, Portrait of a Young Man 2.jpg, ''Portrait of a Young Man'', attributed to Giorgione File:Giorgione-BildnisGiovanniBorgherini.ud.TrifoneGabriele.1509-10.BSTGS7452.jpg, ''Portrait of Giovanni Borgherini and Trifone Gabriele,'' canvas, 1509/10,
Bavarian State Painting Collections The Bavarian State Painting Collections (), based in Munich, Germany, oversees artwork held by the Free State of Bavaria. It was established in 1799 as ''Centralgemäldegaleriedirektion''. Artwork includes paintings, sculptures, photographs, video ...
(7452)Attributed to Giorgione in 2024 after extensive research. Press release with downloadable PDF:


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * Gould, Cecil, ''The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools'', National Gallery Catalogues, London 1975, * ''Encyclopedia of Artists, volume 2'', edited by William H.T. Vaughan, , 2000


Further reading

* David Alan Brown and Sylvia Ferino-Pagden
''Bellini·Giorgione·Titian and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting''
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006 (accompanying an exhibition at the
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
, Washington, D.C., and the
Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...
, Vienna). * Giulio Dalvit and
Elizabeth Peyton Elizabeth Joy Peyton (born 1965) is an American contemporary artist working primarily in painting, drawing, and printmaking. Best known for figures from her own life and those beyond it, including close friends, historical personae, and icons of c ...
, ''Titian's Man in a Red Hat'', New York: The
Frick Collection The Frick Collection (colloquially known as the Frick) is an art museum on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was established in 1935 to preserve the collection of the industrialist Henry Clay Frick. The collection (museum) ...
. 2022, pp. 44-53. * ''The Complete Paintings of Giorgione''. Introduction by Cecil Gould. Notes by Pietro Zampetti. NY: Harry N. Abrams. 1968. * ''Giorgione. Atti del Convegno internazionale di studio per il quinto centenario della nascita (Castelfranco Veneto 1978)'', Castelfranco Veneto, 1979. * Tom Nichols, ''Giorgione's Ambiguity'', London, UK: Reaktion Books, 2020. * Salomon, Xavier F. '' Bellini and Giorgione in the House of Taddeo Contarini''. New York: The
Frick Collection The Frick Collection (colloquially known as the Frick) is an art museum on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was established in 1935 to preserve the collection of the industrialist Henry Clay Frick. The collection (museum) ...
, 2023. Catalogue for exhibition in External links. * Sylvia Ferino-Pagden, ''Giorgione: Mythos und Enigma'', Ausst. Kat. Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Wien, 2004 (translated as ''Giorgione: Myth and Enigma'', Milan, Italy: Skira, 2004). * Sylvia Ferino-Pagden (Hg.), ''Giorgione entmythisiert'', Turnhout, Brepols, 2008. * Unglaub, Jonathan, "The Concert Champêtre: The Crises of History and the Limits of Pastoral." ''Arion'', Vol. 5, no. 1 (Spring - Summer, 1997): 46–96.


External links


Video: "Giorgione and the problem of attribution"
by Charles Hope, ''
London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...
'', 2016
Tour: Giorgione and the High Renaissance in Venice, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Giorgione featured on 10 Euro Coin

Giorgione death notice and original sketch
at the
University of Sydney Library The University of Sydney Library is the library system of the University of Sydney. It comprises eight locations across several campuses of the university. Its largest library, Fisher Library, is named after Thomas Fisher, an early benefactor. ...

Bellini and Giorgione in the House of Taddeo Contarini
exhibition at the
Frick Collection The Frick Collection (colloquially known as the Frick) is an art museum on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was established in 1935 to preserve the collection of the industrialist Henry Clay Frick. The collection (museum) ...
, November 9, 2023 to February 4, 2024. Exhibition of St. Francis in Ecstasy (Bellini) and The Three Philosophers (Giorgione). {{Authority control Italian Renaissance painters Painters from the Republic of Venice 1470s births 1510 deaths Italian male painters People from Castelfranco Veneto 15th-century Italian painters 16th-century Italian painters * 16th-century deaths from plague (disease)