The San Zaccaria Altarpiece

Give the index card for this image

Madonna Enthroned with Child and Saints (The San Zaccaria Altarpiece), Giovanni Bellini, 500 × 235 cm, oil on panel, San Zaccaria, Venice

Was Bellini new on the art scene when he painted this?

• No

• He came from a prominent artistic family

• He was in his 70s when he painted this, and had dominated the Venetian art scene for decades

What was Bellini an early adopter of?

Oil paint

What were two of Bellini’s strengths?

• An expert in architectural perspective

• Extremely skilled in the depiction of the structure and proportions of the human body

Give the elements necessary for a thumbnail sketch

• Madonna and child are seated on a marble plinth under the mosaic half-dome of an ornate church

• Surrounded by saints

• On the far left, St Peter, draped in blue and orange robes, holds a key and book in his right and left hands

• On the inside left stands St Catherine, dressed in green and holding a fragment of a wheel and a martyr’s palm

• On the inside right, St Lucy faces the Madonna and holds a pot of oil

• On the far right, St Jerome wears a red cloak and reads a book

• Directly below the Madonna and Child, an angel dressed in green and pink plays a violin

• Directly above the Virgin, a carved marble face appears to watch over the scene in the scene in a god like manner

• All figures have downturned expressions

• Beyond the pilasters on either side of the scene, there appears to be blue sky and trees

What is the significance of St Peter’s key and book?

• His key is the key to heaven

• His book is the register of souls

What is the name for this style of pose?

• A ‘Sacra Conversazione’

• This is typical of Venice during this time period

• Always features Saints posed around the Virgin and Child in this way

How is Mary depicted? How is Christ depicted?

Mary is shown as pale and impassive, but Christ is playful

What was Bellini’s family particularly know for? How can this be seen in this painting?

• Architectural painting

• This can be seen in the painting’s trompe l’oeil effect

Why was this piece commissioned?

Though a church had been on the site since the 12th century, it was being redecorated, so he was commissioned by the wealthy Benedictine nuns to paint a new altarppiece

What innovative technique did Bellini use in the production of this piece?

• Used both oil paint and tempera

• Tempera is more traditional

• This use of fast and slow drying mediums on top of each other created luminescence and depth

• Oil lasts longer than tempera, and is thinned down enough that the white ground can be seen beneath

• Oil paint was developed in Northern Europe first, and not all Italian painters used it

• Oil is used for lots of detail

• Oil also lasts longer than tempera in Venice

According to the shadow in the image, where is the painting’s light source?

Does the light source make sense?

• Strong shadow on the inner left

• This suggests that the light source is coming from the left

• The light source makes sense for the painting’s position within the church

What shapes are framing the figures?

• Arches

• These can be seen in the central half-dome, as well in the two arches on either side of the structure demarcating it

What is the interaction between the viewer and the painting?

• It shows a space that viewers can understand and theoretically participate in, but is also very high up

• This forces the viewer to look up, and means they cannot fully participate

What order of columns are the ones in the image?

Corinthian

Who could the head above the Madonna be?

• King David

• Famously a wise bearded man

How is a sense of harmony created throughout the image?

• The angel tilts her head to the right, in the opposite direction of Mary

• Mary is framed symmetrically, by two inward facing women, and then by two outward facing men

What was the significance of oil paint in Venice?

It lasted longer, allowing Venetian art to have more permanency

What is the painting’s relationship to the church?

It was commissioned for the church’s interior, so fits in

What is painted half-dome above the Virgin decorated with?

It is painted to look like a byzantine golden mosaic

What kind of surface are the figures standing on?

A chequered tiled floor

What illusion is the painting intended to give?

• Painted to look like an annexe/side chapel that opens up into the landscape

• Almost a pavilion on the side of the church

Is the landscape accurate to Venice?

• No

• It is an imagined scene, not the Venetian countryside

Which aspect of the image reminds the viewer of the setting?

• The ostrich egg from which the lamp hangs

• Venice is famous for its curiosities

Is the painting displayed the way it originally would have been?

• No

• The painting was looted in 1787 by Napoleon

• The painting was truncated, and the surface was peeled off and stuck onto canvas

• When the painting was returned to San Zaccaria, it was placed in a different location

What is the relationship between the piece and its current setting?

The setting that it is now in was rebuilt to make it resemble the setting in the piece, so does not entirely reflect the way in which Bellini was responding to the setting

Where is the painting positioned within the church? How does this affect its function?

• It is located in a space for individual worship and prayer

• The illusion of it being a separate room adds to a sense of separation

• Shadows in the image align with the afternoon sun

What is the piece’s primary purpose?

It is a devotional piece, so its purpose is primarily aesthetic, not religious

What was Venice’s cultural position?

• As a trading port between Europe and the East, it was very wealthy

• This led to lots of wealthy merchants, who wanted to seem cultured and show their piety, so commissioned lots of art

• This meant that lots of art was created, and art was no longer limited to the aristocracy

Give a quote by Martin Gayford on Bellini’s skill

“The first truly great Venetian artist”

According to Martin Gayford, is the piece’s hanging harmonious with its surroundings?

• No

• It looks like it has been “stuck on top of the others”

According to Martin Gayford, is the painting popular?

“Few, if any people ever look at the other paintings”

According to Martin Gayford, what other artistic tradition does this painting incorporate?

“A different, older type of picture: the Byzantine mosaic in the half-dome”