Portrait of Doge Mocenigo

Portrait of Doge Mocenigo

This tempera painting was created as one of Gentile Bellini’s many portraits throughout his lifetime. Bellini, a reputable artist even in his early career, became known for his portraiture skills, and this painting can be considered a masterful example of his signature style. According to Terisio Pignatti, this is an early, unfinished work of Bellini’s, likely a private commission from the doge that was cut short by a visit to Constantinople due to the commonality of the cloak worn by the doge and the bare background and lack of defined details in his clothing. Many scholars had attributed the work to Giovanni Bellini; however, once cleaned, the painting showed the world-renowned human characterization and formal qualities of Gentile Bellini. Bellini expertly used the glaze and paint to carve out key aspects of the unerring, quiet, and powerful nature of the Doge, from his angular profile to his clear gaze.

This painting also allows us to see how Bellini’s trip to Constantinople to profile the Sultan influenced his painting styles through comparison of the two, painted just one or two years after the portrait of the Doge. According to Stefano Carboni, in the painting of Mocenigo, Bellini employs the more impersonal profile view, while with the Sultan he used the three-quarters view, hinting at Bellini’s later usage of the full frontal view, the most intimate view of all. In addition, Mocenigo’s painting utilized a neutral background, shifting the focus onto the Doge and his character, whereas Mehmet II’s portrait showcases his status and military accomplishments in the background. Both of these key differences seem to showcase the effect his visit to Constantinople had on him.

Gentile Bellini

Giovanni Bellini and Gentile Bellini. Portrait of Doge Mocenigo. painting. Place: Museo Correr. https://library.artstor.org/asset/SCALA_ARCHIVES_1039778348.
Plaut, James S. "An Unknown Portrait of a Doge by Gentile Bellini." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 70, no. 409 (1937): 155-57. Accessed September 15, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/866746.
Carboni, Stefano. 2007. Venice And The Islamic World. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Pignatti, Terisio. "A Rediscovered Portrait by Gentile Bellini." The Burlington Magazine 95, no. 600 (1953): 93-95. Accessed September 16, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/871019.

SCALA, Florence/ART RESOURCE, N.Y.

1478-1479

Rhea Niyyar

(c) 2006, SCALA, Florence / ART RESOURCE, N.Y.

tempera painting, 63 x 46 cm

painting

Museo Correr, Italian and other European Art, Venice. Italy