The Tempest
Dublin Core
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Description
The Tempest is one of Giorgione’s few paintings and most enigmatic as there are over thirty identified interpretations ranging from biblical to Venetian [1]. Giorgione was commissioned circa 1510 to make this painting for the wealthy Venetian, Gabriele Vendramin. The Tempest is an important part of Venetian art as it is said to be one of the first examples of a landscape painting in western art [2].
This painting is composed of a vivid color palette mostly dominated by the greens of the natural landscape in the foreground and deep blue of the storm in the background, the lighting stays soft throughout the painting giving it a “calm before the storm” feeling of anticipation. All these features add to the idea that Giorgione was trying to create a piece that had a calm, serene scene below a brewing storm. The focal point seems to be the storm and single lightning bolt, introducing the idea of “Not Subject,” a non-figure playing a major role in a painting [3]. Additionally, the two figures play a more minor role. The man is posed in contrapposto to the left of the painting and dressed in nice, fashionable clothing, he seems to be softly gazing to the right but does not seem to be acknowledged by the woman. The woman is posed sitting down and nude except for the cloth draped over her shoulders. The baby is placed beside her nursing on the woman. They both sit on lush green grass and are surrounded by bright vegetation. Her gaze is straight ahead staring out of the painting, almost staring back at the viewer. The landscape’s architecture is representative of Venice, Giorgione and Vendramin’s place of origin. The broken columns and arches on the wall in the middle ground are characteristic of Venetian architecture as it pulls elements of the classical era.
1. Ross Stuart Kilpatrick, “Hagar and the Angel in Giorgione's ‘Tempest’.,” December 1997, https://doi.org/10.2307/1483600.
2. “The Tempest,” The Tempest by Giorgione, accessed October 27, 2020, http://www.giorgione.net/tempest/.
3. Renaissance Studies: Journal of the Society for Renaissance Studies (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2008), 476.
Creator
Source
Kilpatrick, Ross S. (Ross Stuart). “Hagar and the Angel in Giorgione’s ‘Tempest.’” Artibus et Historiae18, no. 36 (December 1997): 81–86. doi:10.2307/1483600.
Schier, Rudolf. "Giorgione's "Tempesta": A Virgilian Pastoral." Renaissance Studies 22, no. 4 (2008): 476-506. Accessed October 27, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24417578.
“The Tempest.” The Tempest by Giorgione. Accessed October 27, 2020. http://www.giorgione.net/tempest/.
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Image Source:
Giorgione (Giorgio da Castelfranco), Venetian, ca. 1477-1510. ca. 1510. The Tempest. https://library.artstor.org/asset/AHSC_ORPHANS_1071313534.
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