Giovanni Bellini

ISBN: 1861893574

Author: B

Condition: New

Hailed as the savior of Venetian painting by Jacob Burckhardt and declared by Albrecht Drer to be the foremost painter of the city, Giovanni Bellini is a pivotal figure in the development of Italian Renaissance art. With Giovanni Bellini, renowned art historian Oskar Btschmann charts the fraught trajectory of Bellinis career, highlighting the crucial works that established his far-reaching influence in the Renaissance.The artist struggled to break out of the long shadow cast by his accomplished father Jacopo and father-in-law Andrea Mantegna, and Btschmann chronicles Bellinis development of distinct aesthetic and painting techniques that enabled him to set himself apart. Bellini also insisted on choosing his own subjects and themes, independent of the preferences of his patron Isabella dEste, and thus set new standards for the role of the artist.Anchoring the analysis are a wealth of vibrant color reproductions that include such famous works as The Feast of the Gods and Madonna and Child, as well as photographs of Bellinis lauded altar-pieces at the churches of San Giobbe, Murano, and San Zaccania. Drawing on these masterpieces, Btschmann argues that Bellinis artistry and skillful blending of colors created a new aesthetic more akin to music than to previous approaches to painting. And by leading viewers to understand this subtle, refined sensibility, Bellini transformed them into knowledgeable admirers of art.A lushly illustrated and expansive study, Giovanni Bellini is essential for all historians and admirers of Renaissance art.