Piero’s first documented work, a polyptych called the Madonna della Misericordia, was commissioned in 1445 and completed much later. It demonstrates how much inspiration he derived from those Florentine artists. As well as Florence, Piero also worked in other parts of Italy, including Rimini, Arezzo, Ferrara and Rome, although he maintained his ties with Sansepolcro throughout his life. Much of Piero’s work has been lost and his career has been poorly documented, but the work that survives demonstrates his harmonious style of painting, with pale colors, clear light, large airy spaces and precise use of perspective. In 1452 he painted a cycle of frescoes, The Story of the True Cross, for the choir of the church of San Francesco in Arezzo, which he depicted in an original way in his tranquil style. The frescoes show his advanced knowledge of perspective and understanding of color and composition. A slow worker, he often hung wet cloths on his frescoes in the evening so that he could work on the same section again the next day—something that had not been done in fresco painting before.
Piero was extremely popular in his own lifetime—he worked for several eminent patrons and much of his later career was spent working at the humanist court of Federico da Montefeltro, who ruled Urbino. His work displays his interest in humanism and the rediscovery of classical antiquity, and exemplifies the objectives of early Renaissance painters. He is also known for his careful rendering of background landscapes—a new innovation in Italian art at the time—and his portrayal of light to create the illusion of depth. These, along with his representation of linear perspective, marked the beginnings of the depiction of aerial or atmospheric perspective, where warm colors in the foreground change to paler colors in the background, adding to the sense of distance.
Key Works
Madonna della Misericordia 1445, PINACOTECA COMUNALE, SANSEPOLCRO, ITALY
The Story of the True Cross c.1452–7, SAN FRANCESCO, AREZZO, ITALY
Resurrection of Christ c.1453, PINACOTECA COMUNALE, SANSEPOLCRO, ITALY
The Flagellation of Christ c.1455–60, GALLERIA NAZIONALE DELLE MARCHE, URBINO, ITALY
Federigo da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza 1472, GALLERIA DEGLI UFFIZI, FLORENCE, ITALY
BELLINI
c.1430–1516 • RENAISSANCE, VENETIAN SCHOOL
Sacra Conversazione (Madonna and Child with Saints)
c.1490–1500 TEMPERA ON PANEL
75 × 84 CM (29½ × 33 IN)
GALLERIA DELL’ACCADEMIA, VENICE, ITALY
Sacra Conversazione refers to paintings of Mary and Jesus within a group of saints. By the Renaissance period, the Byzantine style had been forgotten as artists depicted the figures in realistic-looking spaces. Rich colors convey the soft light of Venice.
During the Renaissance, Venice was a stable, powerful and prosperous city, independent from Rome. Giovanni Bellini was credited with bringing the Renaissance to Venice with his sumptuous coloring and fluent, atmospheric landscapes.
Like his brother Gentile, Giovanni Bellini began his career as an assistant in their father Jacopo Bellini’s studio in Venice. When their sister married Andrea Mantegna in 1453, close relations between Venice and Padua were established. Venice’s geographical location made it less susceptible to outside influences and allowed for a more relaxed attitude toward subject matter, which contributed to its unique artistic style. Giovanni responded to the influences around him: his family, Flemish art, the sculptures of Donatello, which he saw in Padua, and the paintings of Antonello da Messina (c.1430–79), who visited Venice in 1475. His paintings became distinctive for their mellow light, clear and vivid colors, sculptural approaches to composition and smooth, almost velvety brushstrokes. Looking at them today, they appear astonishingly modern.
Bellini’s early work was in tempera, but later he became one of the first experts in oil painting techniques, creating deep, rich tints and detailed shadings, moving Venetian painting toward a more sensuous and colouristic style. As he matured, his colors gained in luminosity and depth; tonal inflections became even more delicate and precise and light filled every painting. He became known for his sensitive portraits, devotional paintings, architectural compositions and remarkable landscapes, which revolutionized Venetian art. His ability to endow his figures with an expression of quiet contemplation, while conveying movement and accurate human anatomy, attracted many talented apprentices to his workshop, including Giorgione (c.1477–1510) and Titian, and he was recognized as the leading painter of the period.
Key Works
Madonna and Child c.1468, PINACOTECA DI BRERA, MILAN, ITALY
St. Francis in the Wilderness c.1480, THE FRICK COLLECTION, NEW YORK, US
The Doge Leonardo Loredan c.1501–4, NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, UK
MANTEGNA
c.1431–1506 • RENAISSANCE
The Virgin and Child
1490S TEMPERA ON CANVAS
45.2 × 35.5 CM (17¾ × 14 IN)
MUSEO POLDI PEZZOLI, MILAN, ITALY
In a tender moment, Mary holds her baby’s face. Wrapped in a cloth, Jesus sleeps. Despite the warmth of the scene, it foretells Jesus’ death and how Mary will be holding him, wrapped in a sheet after his crucifixion.
For about 50 years, Andrea Mantegna was probably the most influential painter in northern Italy. Featuring clarity of line and an accomplished use of perspective, his paintings astonished contemporary eyes.
Mantegna was born in Isola di Carturo in Italy, close to Padua, then part of the Republic of Venice. The second son of a carpenter, at the age of ten he was apprenticed to the painter Francesco Squarcione (1394–1468) whose workshop was renowned across Italy. Within a year, Squarcione had entered him in the guild of painters; an extraordinary attainment at such a young age, but by the time he was 17, he left his apprenticeship to set up his own workshop. There was great interest in classical antiquities in and around Padua at the time and, distinctively, Mantegna made specific use of archaeological accuracy in his paintings, while also experimenting with perspective.
From 1443, Donatello was in Padua creating the high altar for the church of San Antonio and from him, Mantegna learned how to produce anatomically correct figures and to represent “sculptural” figures and drapery. As he took on more commissions, he became recognized for his sophisticated perspective and unusual viewpoints. In 1453, he married Nicolosia Bellini, daughter of the artist Jacopo Bellini and sister of the celebrated artists Giovanni and Gentile Bellini. Squarcione and the Bellinis were rivals, so from that time, he and Mantegna became alienated from each other. Giovanni Bellini and Mantegna worked on several commissions together, and all three younger artists influenced each other. From Mantegna, the Bellini brothers gained greater understanding of perspective, while Mantegna became more skilled at selecting and using color and in depicting light. In 1460, he was appointed court painter to the Gonzaga family, the powerful rulers of Mantua. From then on, he only left Mantua for occasional trips to Tuscany and Rome.