San Giobbe Altarpiece, Bellini

year?

1478-80

dimensions?

4\.71 x 2.58m

patron?

Confraternity of St Giobbe

Location?

Galleria Accademia

composition?

sacra conversazione

Colours?

• highly saturated

• warm and rich

• Naturalistic

how is depth created? (3)

* single-point perspective
* foreshortened barrel-vault and lutes
* apsidal ending

how does light and tone reflect Humanism and antiquity?

its tonal and naturalistic

how does the lighting of the painting mirror the real location?

the figures are lit from the side like the real light entering from the windows and doors in the museum

what form are the figures?

soft yet sculptural and idealised

what structure are the figures in?

a triangular structure and also symmetrical either side of Mary.

what do the curved lines suggest?

sensuality

what style is the throne and architecture?

Byzantine

how is the painting clearly Venetian?

strong interest in surface pattern and decoration

why was oil significant?

* enhanced the light and sensuality
* it was the first altarpiece in Venice to be painted in oil

what other altarpiece was Bellini directly influenced by?

Antonello da Messina’s ‘Enthroned Madonna and Child with Saints’

where did Bellini’s use of single point perspective come from?

Masaccio’s ‘Holy Trinity’

where is the influence of Humanism seen? (5)

* Classical barrel-vault
* use of perspective
* foreshortening
* idealised anatomy
* contraposto poses

What was the patron connected to?

The nearby plague hospital

How does this altarpiece reference the Doge’s Palace?

The hanging baldachin and mosaic apse

What else did the altarpiece show?

• wealth and civic pride

• pigments were expensive and of a high quality due to trade

what effect was created through simulated architecture?

A trompe l’oeil

what other altarpiece may have inspired Bellini?

Piero della Francesca’s ‘Montefeltro altarpiece’

Peter Humphrey source: effect the altarpiece has

• “its effect has sensuous realism”

• Shows Bellini had awareness of Florentine perspective & anatomy.

What evidence suggests Bellini had an awareness of Florentine perspective/anatomy?

• Volumetric effect

• Influence of Donatello’s sculpture which Bellini may have seen in Padova.

Vasari source

“praised for its great beauty”

2 important biographical facts about Bellini?

* he was an innovator and led a large workshop for younger artists.
* His father and brother were also successful Venetian artists.

What was Bellini the first Venetian to do?

• First Venetian artist to experiment with oil paint.

• After 1475, painters abandoned traditional tempera in favour of oil.

• Had dramatic impact on development of a style = typically Venetian.

who did Bellini replace as Venice’s most important producer of altarpieces?

Vivarini

who did Bellini’s intense use of rich colour inspire?

the next generation e.g. Titian

which features of the altarpiece highlighted the foundation of Venice? (3)

the emphasis of the Virgin Mary, the inscription and the laurel branch

when did Venetian’s believe Venice was founded?

the feast day of the Annunciation, 25th March

where was the church (its location) located?

the edge of the lagoon in a poor area of Venice

what was the function of the altarpiece?

to encourage prayers of intercession for the dead and sick.

who paid for the church and what happened that was very unusual?

* Doge Cristoforo Moro paid and funded the church.
* he was buried in the church.

what was the intention behind the Byzantine coloured marble, mosaic apse, throne and architecture?

* to perpetuate Venice’s former glory as head of the Byzantine empire.
* this was lost to the Turks in 1453.

what did the stimulated coloured marble and Byzantine architecture capture?

materials plundered from Constantinople

what did the fact that this was a painted chapel rather than a physical construction indicate?

* that the confraternity of St Giobbe may have been restricted to their funds.
* therefore, Bellini needed to make up for this.