Veronese was commissioned in 1573 to paint a great banqueting picture for the convent of San Giovanni e Paolo [1]. It is a large oil painting, that now resides in the Galleria dell’Accademia in Venice. Its original name, The Last Supper, was…
This work was originally created by Giovanni Bellini, but had later additions by Titian, and the Duke of Ferrara's artist Dosso Dossi [1]. Bellini was one of the great painters of the 15th century, and this was his last large painting.
This…
The first thing that viewer's eyes are drawn to is the larger than life man on the left hand side of the painting. He is clothed in blue and light red cloth, with one arm on his hip and one outstretched towards the center of the painting. The cloth…
Depicted here we see Flora, the Greek goddess of Spring and the bride of Zephyr, emerging from a dark background and identified through the various flowers in her hand. While her surroundings remain dark, her figure emanates from the darkness,…
This calligraphic drawing was created as part of Giovanna Garzoni's "Libro de’ caratteri cancellereschi corsivi," or “Book of Chancery Cursive Letterforms.” Garzoni, an itinerant artist, was born in Ascoli Piceno to a Venetian family and is believed…
The painting of the Happy Union was most likely commissioned by a husband and wife to decorate the ceilings of their home. Veronese was chosen to create this painting, making a series called the Four Allegories of Love on the dichotomy between a…
Giorgione’s Judith is a beautiful young widow who has already slain the Assyrian general Holofernes. In fifteenth and sixteenth-century Italy, Judith often served as an allegorical figure of Virtue triumphant, or as the victor in a number of binary…
Compared to Giorgione’s Judith, Cariani’s Judith is dark and sensual, beautiful but clearly dangerous. Centrally positioned, Judith emerges from an ominous background filled with storm clouds, her left breast exposed and framed by dark green drapery…
The lady sleeping in the bed is an image of Princess Usrula, the daughter of King Norus of Brittany in the 5th century AD. She was very beautiful and wise which caused her to have many suitors. The King of Anglia wanted his son to marry her, so she…
The Madonna and Child subject was a common subject among artists in Venice in the late 15th century. It is estimated that over one-third of Bellini’s published works are paintings of the virgin and child, all taking slightly different forms and…