The Feast of the Gods
Dublin Core
Title
Description
In this oil painting, we immediately see a contrast in color and shading between the foreground, which contains Greco-Roman mythological figures, and the background, with the jagged and rough landscape. Immediately, the viewer notices the bright coloring of the foreground, specifically the clothing of the figures (who are identified as nymphs and gods)--a feature which comes to define much of Venetian Renaissance art. Bright hues of red, blue, white, and pink create a contrast with the natural green and brown of the surroundings: this contrast in light and dark brings an emphasis on the events occurring in the foreground, while still allowing the background to provide depth to the painting. Following the direction/line of the faces of these figures, the viewer’s eyes are drawn to the right side of the painting to the main subject matter: Priapus advancing on the sleeping nymph Lotis. In contrast to the background, the foreground shows much animation: the figures are eating, drinking, and interacting with each other. The background does show some animation, through the movements of the playing satyrs near the base, yet not nearly as much as the foreground. Although it seems like there is an abrupt distinction between the foreground and background, the trees on the right side connect the two, slowly receding into the mass of trees at the base of the mountain.
In addition to the contrasts of light and color, there also appears to be a contrast in style between the background and the foreground. While the trees in the foreground are much more similar in detail to the figures, those of the foreground are much more untamed and profuse with leaves, indicating a difference in style. Whereas the figures in the foreground are much more meticulous in terms of detail, the landscape of the background is wild and natural. This difference is explained by the fact that two artists worked on this painting: firstly Giovanni Bellini, to whom we can attribute the detailed trees on the right, and secondly, Titian, to whom we can attribute the background [1].
Commissioned by Duke Alfonso d'Este of Ferrara, the painting was intended to be a part of one of his private collections, with this painting being the first of a cycle [2]. It is likely that Bellini found inspiration from Ovid’s Fasti. Although many believe this painting to be one that strictly depicts a mythological scene, Jacob Burckhardt saw it as a dramatic scene that has been idealized and modernized for that time period: the barber’s bowl on Mercury appears later on in another artwork by Cervantes, for example of evidence. However, this scene was finished before Titian could work on it: x-rays of the painting show that much of the scene remained constant, with the landscape in the background changing from Bellini’s dense forest to Titian’s mountain [3].
[1] "The Feast of the Gods." Art Object Page. 2020. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.1138.html#overview.
[2] David Bull. "Monograph Series II: The Feast of the Gods: Conservation, Examination, and Interpretation." Studies in the History of Art 40 (1990): 3-106. Accessed September 22, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42621814.
[3] Oskar Bätschmann. 2007. “Chapter VI: Harmony.” Giovanni Bellini, November, 182–213. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asu&AN=48989049&site=ehost-live&scope=site..Creator
Source
I). Journal Article 1: Bull, David, Joyce Plesters, J. Carter Brown, and Lamia Doumato. "Monograph Series II: The Feast of the Gods: Conservation, Examination, and Interpretation." Studies in the History of Art 40 (1990): 3-106. Accessed September 22, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42621814.
II). Journal Article 2: Colantuono, Anthony. "Dies Alcyoniae: The Invention of Bellini's Feast of the Gods." The Art Bulletin 73, no. 2 (1991): 237-56. Accessed September 22, 2020. doi:10.2307/3045792.
III). Book: Bätschmann, Oskar. 2007. “Chapter VI: Harmony.” Giovanni Bellini, November, 182–213. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asu&AN=48989049&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Museum: "The Feast of the Gods." Art Object Page. 2020. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.1138.html#overview.
Publisher
Image Source: 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