Mysterious George
There is a thick fog of mystery surrounding legendary renaissance painter Giorgione, and as such much of the following is still being debated and disputed by many art historians. Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco was born in a town named Castelfranco Veneto and would eventually move to Venice sometime in his youth. Giorgione would eventually find himself an apprenticeship under the great Giovanni Bellini, who is known for bringing the renaissance style of painting to Venice proper, in the late 1400’s.
- Fun fact: Giorgione translates to Big George!
One of Giorgione’s earliest paintings was a commissioned altarpiece, Castelfranco Madonna.
It depicts a sacra conversazione, or a holy conversation, with Madonna on a throne and two saints placed to form a triangle. An elaborate landscape is depicted behind the figures and will become a staple in Giorgione’s future work.
Giorgione had died before finishing Sleeping Venus and the adding of the landscape was passed to Titian. Giorgione and Titian would become closely associated even to the point of some saying that Giorgione was Titian’s master.
The Tempest is credited to be the first landscape of western painting. We can see this by Giorgione making the landscape the protagonist of the image while the figures are there seemingly incidentally.
Three Philosophers was started by Giorgione but later said to be completed by Sebastiano del Piombo after Giorgione’s death. One interpretation among many is that the three philosophers symbolize youthfulness, maturity and old age.
The Adoration of the Shepherds gives the center of attention not to Mary, Joseph and Jesus but to the two pilgrims who have come to participate in adoration. This piece has also been disputed to be one of Titian’s paintings instead.
As you can see most of what we know about Giorgione is surrounded in myth and legend and although he only lived to his thirties, his influence can not be understated as he acts as the bridge between Bellini and Titian. I implore you to read this article about the problems of attribution of his work here.
https://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n07/charles-hope/at-the-royal-academy
Or you can watch a video about it here.
Citations:
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giorgione
- https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/high-ren-florence-rome/late-renaissance-venice/v/giorgione-the-tempest
- https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/high-ren-florence-rome/late-renaissance-venice/v/giorgione-three-philosophers
- https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/high-ren-florence-rome/late-renaissance-venice/v/giorgione-the-adoration-of-the-shepherds-1505-10