Venetian painting is characterized by deep, rich colors and a strong interest in the effects of light.
1400 - 1500
Beginner's guide
Venice had everything—a stable republican government led by a Doge (“Duke”), wealth from trade, and a unique location as a gateway between Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire.
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Gentile Bellini and Giovanni Bellini, Saint Mark Preaching in Alexandria
Bellini imagines Saint Mark preaching in a collage of different times and places: ancient Alexandria, 16th-century Venice, and the Ottoman Empire.
Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara
Encased in glittery diamond-shaped marble, Palazzo dei Diamanti illustrates the grandeur of Renaissance Ferrara.
Pisanello, Leonello d’Este
Like a social media post, Pisanello's portrait of Leonello d'Este is all a carefully constructed fiction
Cosmè Tura, Roverella Altarpiece
Cosmè Tura’s Roverella altarpiece, though known to us only in its current fragmentary state, speaks to the vibrancy and sophistication of late fifteenth-century Ferrarese art.
Guido Mazzoni, Head of a Man
Mazzoni, one of the foremost terracotta sculptors of Northern Italy during the Renaissance, incarnates clay with the spirit of a living person
Sala dei Mesi (Hall of the Months) at Palazzo Schifanoia
The surviving decorations of Schifanoia offer modern viewers a precious glimpse of the splendorous forms that once adorned the d’Este’s numerous palaces and villas
Andrea Mantegna, Dead Christ
Mantegna was fascinated by perspective. His radical foreshortening and realism focus attention on Christ’s wounds.
Giovanni Bellini, Brera Pietà
Bellini zooms in on three figures—the Virgin Mary, Christ, and John—to create a sense of our being with them after Christ's death
Vittore Carpaccio, Miracle of the Relic of the Cross at the Rialto Bridge
A painting shows life on the Grand Canal of Venice, including Black gondoliers
Gentile Bellini, Portrait of Sultan Mehmed II
Gentile Bellini's portrait of Mehmed II has been re-interpreted and understood many times since it was produced nearly 550 years ago.
Andrea Mantegna, St. James Led to his Execution
A masterpiece lost to American bombs during World War II
Carlo Crivelli, The Annunciation with Saint Emidius
What are Persian carpets, a peacock, and a cucumber doing in a painting of The Annunciation?
