The Venetian Renaissance
Giorgione's painting reflects the style of
the Venetian Renaissance rather than the Italian High
Renaissance, separate movements which were concurrent
within Italy during the sixteenth century, but
with considerable differences. There was abundant
wealth to support Giorgione's painting and that of many other
artists. While Venetian art appeals more to the senses and
emotion, Italian High
Renaissance art focuses more on intellect. Venetian art is
imbued with soft, reflected light, and muted tones,
characteristic of Giorgione's painting.
Giorgione's Painting of The Pastoral
Concert, a "Poesie" Painting
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The Pastoral
Concert Titian and
Giorgione
c. 1508, oil on canvas, 43 x 54 in. (109 x 137
cm)
Musee du Louvre, Paris
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Giorgione's painting of The Pastoral Concert
is attributed to both Giorgione and Titian jointly,
as both artists were known to collaborate on a single work.
Giorgione's painting and a similar painting called The
Tempest created a new genre in art history, that of
enigmatic pastoral themes. Giorgione's painting depicts four
main figures, two mostly nude females who are ignored by two
fully clothed men, one an aristocrat richly garbed and the
other in peasant dress. The lushness of the figures in
Giorgione's painting competes with the lushness of the
landscape with its stormy clouds and deep vista. It is
uncertain why Giorgione's painting would depict a concert
taking place in the open with musicians and female figures in a
state of undress. Other Venetian artists of the time embraced
Giorgione's new genre of painting with its moody landscape.
Giorgione's painting with its rich, enigmatic imagery was
termed a "poeie" by the artist, a poem or mood expressed in
paint.
Brenda Harness, Art Historian
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