The Feast of the Gods

The Feast of the Gods was created by Giovanni Bellini in 1514 and then later done by Titian in 1529. This painting has a mythological subject matter. This painting is very different from what Bellini mainly produces because it was the end of the first decade of the 16th century and people had more of an interest in the mythological subject matter. The Duke of Ferrara commissioned the Feast of the Gods because he wanted a series of paintings for his studio or the camerino d’alabastro. This painting was an example of restoration that does not have to be done when the painting needs it, such as flaking and its exposure to the elements, but rather the patron’s demands. Titian came in around 1529-1530 and did some interventions to the landscape. The Feast of the Gods came to the National Gallery in 1942, and they discovered that it was painted repeatedly before [1]. We also know that he opens up the sky on the right side because of documentation and x-ray analysis. He helped unify the painted cycle and the other paintings that Titian did for the studio for Duke Ferrera. This painting was most likely based on Ovid’s Fasti as there were many Olympians, gods, and nymphs in this painting. There is a free-like quality of this painting, which is very similar to other Titian paintings. The figures have free-like quality because they are free gallivanting in the woods. Everyone painted is organized in a straight vertical line across the painting in a frozen way. It is very animated because the figures interact with one another, drinking, giving each other glares, and some people are doing things they aren’t supposed to do.

This painting is a mythological story brought to life. This painting is placed in a forest because you can see the various trees and a giant hill in the background with more trees. Some of the leaves in the various trees are painted in different colors such as green, light green, dark green, and brownish. The sky is opening on top over the hill with various blue hues and peeking through the trees on the painting’s right side. The scene of this painting is various gods, Olympians, and nymphs having a feast. There are around 20 mythological characters such as Jupiter, Neptune, and Apollo present in this painting, as well as many other gods. They form in a straight line across the lower bottom of the painting in a frieze-like state. The various gods and goddesses are dressed in vibrant clothing with colors such as blue, pink, green, white, and red. This makes viewers eyes’ pop because these colors aren’t used anywhere else in the painting except for the clothing. Everyone is interacting with one another; they are drinking, placing pots and bowls on their heads, and glaring at one another. The gods appear to be having a great time with one another. They are doing things they aren’t supposed to do, laughing, talking, giving glares. They are having a godly party in this forest. A critical tale brought to life is that Priapus, the god of fertility, lifts up the gown of the sleeping nymph, Lotus, shown in the lower right of the painting. He will then be foiled by the loud, obnoxious noise of Silenus’s donkey and everyone laughs at Priapus’s failure.

This painting is currently placed in the National Museum of Art on display, as well as several other paintings completed by Bellini. This was a combined masterpiece as Bellini completed it, and Titian added more detail and edited a few things. This painting is significant because it was created when mythological ideas were popular; it was created by two artists (one who completed it and one who added detail and touch-ups to it) and made this mythological story come to life. It is a stunning masterpiece with such meaning and devotion to it.

The people reading left to right are:
Silenus, Bacchus, Faunus or Silvanus, Mercury, Jupiter, an unidentified goddess holding a quince, a fruit associated in the ancient world with marriage, Pan, Neptune, Ceres, Apollo, Priapus, and Lotis.

[1] Bull, David. "The Feast of the Gods: Conservation and Investigation." Studies in the History of Art 45 (1993)

Giovanni Bellini and Titian

Giovanni Bellini and Titian, Italian. 1514/1529. The Feast of the Gods. Painting. Place: The National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), Widener Collection. https://library.artstor.org/asset/ANGAIG_10313966996.

Colantuono, Anthony. "Dies Alcyoniae: The Invention of Bellini's Feast of the Gods." The Art Bulletin 73, no. 2 (1991): 237-56.

“The Feast of the Gods,” 2020. https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.1138.html.

Krén, Emil, and Daniel Marx. “The Feast of the Gods.” The Feast of the Gods by BELLINI, Giovanni, 1996. https://www.wga.hu/html_m/b/bellini/giovanni/1510-/207feas.html.

Manca, Joseph. "What Is Ferrarese about Bellini's Feast of the Gods?" Studies in the History of Art 45 (1993): 300-13.

Bull, David. "The Feast of the Gods: Conservation and Investigation." Studies in the History of Art 45 (1993): 366-73.

Commissioned by the Duke of Ferrera

National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Image Rights: Giovanni Bellini and Titian, Italian. 1514/1529. The Feast of the Gods. Painting. Place: The National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), Widener Collection. https://library.artstor.org/asset/ANGAIG_10313966996.

1514 / 1529

Seamus Harding

Courtesy of National Gallery of Art, Washington

Image Rights: Giovanni Bellini and Titian, Italian. 1514/1529. The Feast of the Gods. Painting. Place: The National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), Widener Collection. https://library.artstor.org/asset/ANGAIG_10313966996.

Oil on canvas
overall: 170.2 x 188 cm; framed: 203.8 x 218.4 x 7.6 cm

painting

The National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)
Widener Collection