DOI Kapitel:
Painters, Sculptors, Architects, Engravers, and their Works
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61295#0116
94
BELLINI.
figures, rather than a spiritual one, and he seems to stop just on the
CHRIST. BY GIO. BELLINI.
line which separates the highest earthly
type from the heavenly. Kugler says:
‘ ‘ His Madonnas are amiable beings,
imbued with a lofty grace ; his saints
are powerful and noble forms; his
angels cheerful boys in the full bloom
of youth.” His representations of
Christ are full of moral power, such as
has rarely been equalled. His draperies
are peculiar in the crystal-like clearness
of their deep, rich colors. His authentic
works do not belong to his youth. We
have seen how he labored with Gentile
in the great council-chamber, in which
place he continued to paint, at times, dur-
ing all his life. His earliest dated work
is of 1487, and represents a “ Madonna
and Child ” standing on a parapet. It is
in the Acad, of Venice, and there is a
similar one in the Berlin Mus. It is
interesting to see previous works of this
master, and study the changes through
which his style has passed. In this
way one can comprehend, in a measure,
the struggles through which he reached his later style, and his grop-
ing after the proper handling of the new oil mediums, which was an
art in itself. To 1488 belongs a large altar-piece in the Sacristy of
S. Maria de’ Frari ; two angels in this are especially beautiful. The
whole picture is a fine piece of color, and nicely finished. There is
also a large altar-piece in SS. Giovanni e Paolo, which is one of his
earlier pictures ; and another, very similar, in the Acad. In the ch.
of S. Zaccaria is a u Madonna” with saints and an angel, dated 1505,
and at S. Salvatore, “Christ at Emmaus,” belonging to the same
period. This last is especially fine. A similar picture, but not as
good, is in the Manfrini Gall. Perhaps his latest work of this kind
is in S. Gio. Crisostomo, dated 1515. In this he painted SS. Jerome,
Augustine, and Christopher. The shades of moral contrasts are
finely and powerfully drawn. It is a picture that compels one to
study it. Other works of his are in the ch. del Redentore, the Man-
frini Gall., and the Acad. Some of them are allegorical represen-
tations, full of naivete and cheerfulness. One of his latest works was
a “ Bacchanalian,” with a landscape by Titian. He often painted the
single figure of the Redeemer. Liibke says of these representations:
“ By grand nobleness of expression, solemn bearing, and the excellent
arrangement of the drapery, he reached a dignity which has been
BELLINI.
figures, rather than a spiritual one, and he seems to stop just on the
CHRIST. BY GIO. BELLINI.
line which separates the highest earthly
type from the heavenly. Kugler says:
‘ ‘ His Madonnas are amiable beings,
imbued with a lofty grace ; his saints
are powerful and noble forms; his
angels cheerful boys in the full bloom
of youth.” His representations of
Christ are full of moral power, such as
has rarely been equalled. His draperies
are peculiar in the crystal-like clearness
of their deep, rich colors. His authentic
works do not belong to his youth. We
have seen how he labored with Gentile
in the great council-chamber, in which
place he continued to paint, at times, dur-
ing all his life. His earliest dated work
is of 1487, and represents a “ Madonna
and Child ” standing on a parapet. It is
in the Acad, of Venice, and there is a
similar one in the Berlin Mus. It is
interesting to see previous works of this
master, and study the changes through
which his style has passed. In this
way one can comprehend, in a measure,
the struggles through which he reached his later style, and his grop-
ing after the proper handling of the new oil mediums, which was an
art in itself. To 1488 belongs a large altar-piece in the Sacristy of
S. Maria de’ Frari ; two angels in this are especially beautiful. The
whole picture is a fine piece of color, and nicely finished. There is
also a large altar-piece in SS. Giovanni e Paolo, which is one of his
earlier pictures ; and another, very similar, in the Acad. In the ch.
of S. Zaccaria is a u Madonna” with saints and an angel, dated 1505,
and at S. Salvatore, “Christ at Emmaus,” belonging to the same
period. This last is especially fine. A similar picture, but not as
good, is in the Manfrini Gall. Perhaps his latest work of this kind
is in S. Gio. Crisostomo, dated 1515. In this he painted SS. Jerome,
Augustine, and Christopher. The shades of moral contrasts are
finely and powerfully drawn. It is a picture that compels one to
study it. Other works of his are in the ch. del Redentore, the Man-
frini Gall., and the Acad. Some of them are allegorical represen-
tations, full of naivete and cheerfulness. One of his latest works was
a “ Bacchanalian,” with a landscape by Titian. He often painted the
single figure of the Redeemer. Liibke says of these representations:
“ By grand nobleness of expression, solemn bearing, and the excellent
arrangement of the drapery, he reached a dignity which has been