The Tempest
Dublin Core
Title
The Tempest
Description
The Tempest was an important work in Renaissance landscape painting, and one of the 5 surviving works by Giorgione. The painting depicts a storm moving towards two main figures, with a child in the arms of the woman. The male figure looks at the woman, who gazes straight-on to the viewer. The colors of the painting are vivid, but not vibrant, creating the sense that the storm is about to overtake the figures. The woman is nude, but has a white blanket draped over her shoulders and a couple of branches that shade but do not cover her legs.
While the woman and her child appear nude, the man is dressed nicely with a lance, causing many historians to make guesses that he is some sort of soldier or knight. The plane where the family is placed is the brightest area, while the background becomes progressively darker, giving the appearance of the storm being behind them while they remain in the sun but it remains quickly approaching. The family seems to be in a beautiful and lush area, with a river surrounded by trees.
There are many different interpretations of this work, and historians have not agreed on any single one. Some believe the two people are Adam and Eve, with the lush green around them being the garden and the approaching storm being their eventual demise. Many other biblical stories have also been proposed as potential scenes. Others belive that the painting is a version of the German story Golden Legend, and still others argue that there is no evidence to prove that Giorgione may have just painted a gypsy couple without a deeper meaning, which would have been very unorthodox for the time.
While the woman and her child appear nude, the man is dressed nicely with a lance, causing many historians to make guesses that he is some sort of soldier or knight. The plane where the family is placed is the brightest area, while the background becomes progressively darker, giving the appearance of the storm being behind them while they remain in the sun but it remains quickly approaching. The family seems to be in a beautiful and lush area, with a river surrounded by trees.
There are many different interpretations of this work, and historians have not agreed on any single one. Some believe the two people are Adam and Eve, with the lush green around them being the garden and the approaching storm being their eventual demise. Many other biblical stories have also been proposed as potential scenes. Others belive that the painting is a version of the German story Golden Legend, and still others argue that there is no evidence to prove that Giorgione may have just painted a gypsy couple without a deeper meaning, which would have been very unorthodox for the time.
Creator
Giorgione
Source
Bosch, Lynette M. F. "GIORGIONE'S "TEMPEST" REVISITED." Source: Notes in the History of Art 10, no. 2 (1991): 7-15. Accessed September 30, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23202635.
Kilpatrick, Ross S. "Hagar and the Angel in Giorgione's "Tempest"." Artibus Et Historiae 18, no. 36 (1997): 81-86. Accessed September 30, 2020. doi:10.2307/1483600.
Wethey, Harold E. “Giorgione” April 18, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giorgione.
Giorgione (Giorgio da Castelfranco), Venetian, ca. 1477-1510. ca. 1510. The Tempest. https://library.artstor.org/asset/AHSC_ORPHANS_1071313534.
Kilpatrick, Ross S. "Hagar and the Angel in Giorgione's "Tempest"." Artibus Et Historiae 18, no. 36 (1997): 81-86. Accessed September 30, 2020. doi:10.2307/1483600.
Wethey, Harold E. “Giorgione” April 18, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giorgione.
Giorgione (Giorgio da Castelfranco), Venetian, ca. 1477-1510. ca. 1510. The Tempest. https://library.artstor.org/asset/AHSC_ORPHANS_1071313534.
Publisher
Commissioner: Gabriele Vendramin Giorgione (Giorgio da Castelfranco), Venetian, ca. 1477-1510. ca. 1510. The Tempest. https://library.artstor.org/asset/AHSC_ORPHANS_1071313534.
Date
ca. 1510
Contributor
Julia Curd
Rights
Data From: Art Images for College Teaching
Use of this image is in accordance with the Artstor Terms & Conditions
Use of this image is in accordance with the Artstor Terms & Conditions
Format
31 x 29 cm
Type
Oil on Canvas Painting
Coverage
Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice, Italy
Citation
Giorgione, “The Tempest,” ARTHIST 89S - Visual Culture of Venice - Fall 2020, accessed October 22, 2026, https://venice.dahvc.org/fall-2020/items/show/86.