The Renaissance in Venice: c. 1400-1585

Petrarch called Venice a “mundus alter”—another world. Here Bellini, Giorgione, and Titian made art as brilliant as the light that plays off the city’s canals. Venetian painters pursued innovative compositional approaches and introduced new subjects, such as landscape and the female nude. In the Late Renaissance, Titian’s mastery was rivaled by Tintoretto and Veronese. Each attempted to out-paint the other with increasingly dynamic and sensual subjects for local churches and international patrons.

From seductive centerfolds to noble savages, images of the naked human body played a complex and sometimes troubling role in European culture.

Confronting power and violence in the renaissance ...

German Synagogue, founded 1528, Venice — The first Ghetto, Jews in Renaissance Venice

Three synagogues in the Venetian Ghetto

Giorgione, The Tempest, c. 1506-8 (Accademia) - detail — In the distance, lightning strikes. What does it mean? Poetic and evocative, this painting invites interpretation.

Giorgione, The Tempest

Titian, Two portraits of Pietro Aretino — Two portraits capture the ambition and impudence of Titian's close friend and publicist.

Titian, two portraits of Pietro Aretino

Scuola grande di S. Marco e chiesa SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, photo: Mark Edward Smith, by permission © Mark Edward Smith — Brotherhoods lent stability to religious and civic life. These wealthy institutions also commissioned paintings.

Devotional confraternities (scuole) in Renaissance Venice

10 inches—that’s how far Venice has sunk. As sea levels and tourism rise, can this historic city survive?

Saving Venice

Giovanni Bellini and Titian, The Feast of the Gods, 1514/29, oil on canvas, 170.2 x 188 cm (National Gallery of Art) — This canvas was rolled, varnished, reworked, and revised again. A classical scene, it once hung in a study.

Giovanni Bellini and Titian,The Feast of the ...

Tintoretto, Finding the Body of St. Mark — As it recesses, Tintoretto’s strange space collapses time. No wonder Saint Mark multiplies.

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Finding of the Body ...

Andrea Mantegna, San Zeno Altarpiece (detail) — Now in Technicolor! Mantegna’s saturated paint and vivid illusionism bring the Court of Heaven to life.

Andrea Mantegna, San Zeno Altarpiece

Titian and Palma il Giovane, Pietà, detail — This personal image was destined for Titian’s tomb, but he may also appear in it as St. Jerome.

Titian and Jacopo Palma il Giovane, Pietà

Oil paint in Venice — Their island climate didn’t suit fresco, so the Venetians tried oils instead—these paints blend when wet.

Oil paint in Venice

Jacopo Tintoretto, Last Supper, 1594, oil on canvas, 12' x 18' 8" (San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice) — Here, everything is askew. Form dissolves as Tintoretto unites Florentine line with Venetian color.

Jacopo Tintoretto, Last Supper

Bellini, San Zaccaria Altarpiece — Bellini opens up this painting’s space, but holds the viewer at bay. The mood is calm, solemn, and contemplative.

Giovanni Bellini, San Zaccaria Altarpiece

Paolo Veronese, Feast in the House of Levi - detail — Veronese described himself as a painter of figures. Judging by the throng depicted here, he clearly enjoyed it.

Paolo Veronese, Feast in the House of ...

Andrea Mantegna, Dead Christ, tempera on canvas, c. 1480 - 1500 (Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan) - detail — Mantegna was fascinated by perspective. His radical foreshortening and realism focus attention on Christ’s wounds.

Andrea Mantegna, Dead Christ

Bellini, San Giobbe Altarpiece — With its decorative marble and golden light, this space looks a lot like San Marco. Shall we? St. Francis beckons.

Giovanni Bellini, San Giobbe Altarpiece

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Miracle of the Slave detail — This painting was once criticized for its loose, open brushwork—a hallmark of Tintoretto’s style we now admire.

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Miracle of the Slave

Titian, Madonna of the Pesaro Family, detail — Titian’s depth of color and vivid illumination hold our attention, while Mary and Christ move apart and divide it.

Titian, Madonna of the Pesaro Family

Titian, Assumption of the Virgin, c. 1516-18, oil on wood, 22' 6" x 11' 10" (Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice) — Following the outstretched arms of the apostles, we look up to Mary and arrive at a circle of light.

Titian, Assumption of the Virgin

Giorgione The Three Philosophers detail — These three learned men differ in age, outlook, and dress. But do they represent religions, eras, or philosophies?

Giorgione, Three Philosophers