The Tempest

The Tempest, painted by Giorgione c. 1505, is considered a groundbreaking piece of artwork for the time it was created in. Breaking traditional Venetian style, Giorgione painted a piece highly focused on the landscape, with a variety of hidden meanings inserted throughout the image. While Giorgione faced an untimely death in 1510 due to the plague, The Tempest outlives him as an incredible piece of art that analysts debate and discuss to this day. In the painting, two large figures appear in the foreground – a mother sitting on a small, grassy hill nursing her baby, while a man watches her. The man is striking a casual, but regal pose, and is dressed in clothing that was typically worn by affluent members of society. While the man watches the woman nurse her baby, she stares out of the painting with a rather blank look on her face. All but the baby's face is obscured by the mother, as she sits in a shielding, protective position. The figures in the foreground have been subject to various interpretations, some stating that the figures are representations of Adam and Eve with child, a soldier watching over a gypsy, or simply two civilians of Venice. [1]

The background, or "top" of the painting, however, contains the truly celebrated aspects of Giorgione's genius. The vast difference between the fore and background has led analysts to claim the painting can be split into two halves that have no relation to one another. While Giorgione uses bright, warm colors in the foreground, creating the illusion of sun and heat, the background is filled with dark colors to show the storm brewing. A bolt of lightning is seen cutting across the dark blue and grey clouds, and both the city and trees in the background are shaded, creating an ominous sense. Giorgione uses depth in the painting to make the storm appear very far away from the figures in the foreground, as well as the stark contrast in lightning, thus allowing the two scenes to exist separately from one another, but occur simultaneously. 

A singular, agreed-upon meaning has yet to be derived from The Tempest. In agreement with the theory that the figures symbolize Adam and Eve, some scholars have claimed that the storm represents God's wrath and their looming banishment. The separation of the figures from the storm in the background plays into Adam and Eve's blissful unawareness and their temporary time in the Garden of Eden. A more common theory, however, suggests that Giorgione had little biblical meaning, and rather was making a statement about the impending war between Venice and the League of Cambria. In accord with the theory that the figures are simply civilians of Venice or a soldier with a civilian, Giorgione was believed to be illustrating the hurt and harm that would come to the people of Venice if the two nations did in fact come to battle.[2]

[1] Wethey, Harold E. “Giorgione” April 18, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giorgione.

Giorgione

Image Source: Giorgione (Giorgio da Castelfranco), Venetian, ca. 1477-1510. ca. 1510. The Tempest. https://library.artstor.org/asset/AHSC_ORPHANS_1071313534.

Wethey, Harold E. “Giorgione” April 18, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giorgione.

Settis, Salvatore. "Giorgione's Tempest: Interpreting the Hidden Subject." University of Chicago Press, 1990.

Jewitt, Dr. James R. “Giorgione, The Tempest.” Smarthistory, May 2018. https://smarthistory.org/giorgione-the-tempest/.

Commissioner: Gabriele Vendramin c. 1505

Image Source: Giorgione (Giorgio da Castelfranco), Venetian, ca. 1477-1510. ca. 1510. The Tempest. https://library.artstor.org/asset/AHSC_ORPHANS_1071313534.

c. 1505-1510

Ithika Senthilnathan

Use of this image is in accordance with the Artstor Terms & Conditions.

Image Source: Giorgione (Giorgio da Castelfranco), Venetian, ca. 1477-1510. ca. 1510. The Tempest. https://library.artstor.org/asset/AHSC_ORPHANS_1071313534.

Oil on Canvas, 31 cm x 29 cm

Oil on canvas painting

Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice, Italy