VENICE DURING THE BYZANTINE PERIOD

Venice conserves important attestations of the Byzantine period that you can see when you visit the buildings such as the Doge's Palace the houses the Pala D'oro , a real example of Byzantine style.
Especially the tradition of glass manufacturing a historic confirmation of the Byzantine influx form the Orient, that made Venice famous worldwide.

VENICE DURING THE RENAISSANCE AND MANNERISM

During the Renaissance Venice became a very important center as well as Florence and Rome.
Art in Venice was mostly representational. Schools in that period were really important: they were benevolent or professional associations dedicated to saints for which artists worked.
Padua replaced Venice in having supremacy in humanistic, scientific and classical culture. Even the noble families such as Vendramin, Contarini, Grimani, Venier were vital in giving a push to art's development.

Painting

Speaking about Renaissance art in Venice it's like sepaking about Jacopo and Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Titian Veronese and Tintoretto. Venetian Renaissance differs from the Florentine one because it extends in a period that for many art critics is already considered high-Renaissance or Mannerism. It's not a chance in fact that many Venetian artists took inspiration from Raffaello and Michelangelo, who, according to a specifically academic definition, are considered high-Renaissance artists.

In addition to the over represented religious images, Venetian paintings developed other significant art themes such as "the landscape" that will be in different ways, a central theme both in the Vedutismo and Romanticism. First of all we have to mention the great importance of the "schools", mutual benefit organization or charitable institutions that supported artists to create their masterpiece.
In a word, schools for Venice made what the Medici made for Florence.

Jacopo Bellini (1428-1515) is the first considerable painting of Venetian renaissance. Father of Gentile and big brother of Giovanni Bellini, Jacopo was first a Court painter at Ferrara before moving to Padua where he founded his own art studio.
The real remarkable turn to renaissance art can be seen in the Madonna col Bambino (1448, Pinacoteca of Brera), in which the monumental appearance of the human figures emerges clearly.
He was supported by the schools "Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista" and the "Scuola Grande di San Marco". About 1455 he painted Madonna col Bambino Bendedicente e cherubini, conserved in the Accademia Galleries .

Gentile Bellini(1426-1507) was the son of Jacopo. He is especially known for his large paintings made for public buildings like the "Scuola di San Rocco". Even the school "Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista" supported him a lot: in fact it appointed Bellini and other paintings for a great narrative cicle.

Nervertheless, the most magnificent painting by Gentile is Miracle in St. Mark's Square In it the miracle is the central theme of the painting: it deals with a father who implores aid to the jeweled reliquary of St. Mark's Square because his son has been seriously hurt. After his imploration, the son is saved.
Beyond the religious theme, the work is important for its historical sources: the work represents in fact St. Marks's Square before the removing of the old Byzantine mosaics in the XVI century.
Gentile Bellini its regarded for its research to balance the emotional effect given by religious themes with the attentions for details.

Giovanni Bellini (1428-1516) is surely one of the most important renaissance painter, and he's recognized as the most emblematic figure of Venetian renaissance art peculiarities.
Giovanni Bellini worked also as sculptor, but he's famous especially for his paintings. His own characteristic consisted of developing a new form of Landascape, far from the excessive formality of Mantegna, who had great influence on him in a first period.

The new developed theme gives importance to the connection between Human and Nature. A great example of this style is La pietà, located in the Marciano Museum.

In his paintings the landscape on the background, although its secondary importance, it's basic to represent the main theme a in a good way.
Bellini is known also for the use of the tempera, that allows to paint easier but without the possibility of modifications.

The use of tempera and color isn't only a Bellini's prerogative, but also of the whole Venetian renaissance that distinguishes it from the one of Florence.
Another significant work by Bellini dealing with the Blessed Virgin is the Madonna degli alberi in the Academia. In this painting Bellini is interested in representing the human devotion of the Madonna to God.

Giorgione (1477-1510) was Bellini's favorite painter. Under the protection of the school "san Geronimo", Giorgione reverses all the standards and hierarchical rules of the period: in the Madonna di Castelfranco the human figures haven't more importance than the landscape.
Giorgione developes a theme that was already close to Bellini; the contemporary artist Titian made the same.

Titian is one of the last painters belonging to the high renaissance movement. His paintings distinguishes itself for great expressiveness, likeness of human figures, immediateness.
The Assunta in the Frari is a real masterpiece, as well as the Presentazione della Vergine Maria al tempio and the Pietà (Academia).

Tintoretto (1518 - 1594) is considered the predecessor of Rembrant because of his constant purposes to create contrasts between dark and light.

Tintoretto's painting are recognized for the dramatic sensation they transmit; they are characterized by brusque lights, luminous half - shadows, color's modulations.
Geometry was a basilar element in his works, as he was interested in recreating perfectly the perspective.

He was also greatly influenced by Michelangelo and its way to represent human figures: humans in Tintoretto's works have in fact the same strong body build of the Michelangiolesque figures.

His major ability consisted of painting very fast. Schools like "Scuola di San Rocco" were fascinated by Tintoretto's ability to paint. It's not a reason that Titan could be jealous of.
Venice is full of his works; the most famous ones are the Last Supper and the Crucifixion.

Veronese (1528-1588) is the last Renaissance artist of Venice. Both his early and mature works have in fact to be considered as Mannerist works. Veronese loved to paint giving importance to strong colors and contrasts, Mannerist figures often in contorted poses.

An example of Veronese's Style is the Temptation of St. Anthony in the Cathedral of Mantua.
The mature works deal consists mostly frescoes by for civil buildings and villas in the countryside of Venice, such as Villa Barbaro in Maser .
The fresco made for the villa represents illusory architecture taking inspiration from the style of Palladio who designed the villa.

His very last works presents in a clear way a turn to a more classical taste, made of dazzling light, harmonious colors, rigorous compositions. The most remarkable work of that period is the Triumph of Venice in the Doges's Palace, in which we can see all the artistic experiences made by Veronese during its activities.

Sculture

Alessandro Vittoria is recognized as the greatest Venetian sculptor. He worked with Veronese, Sansovino and Palladio. Alessandro Vittoria was strongly influenced by Michelangelo and Bartolomeo Ammannati.

Vittoria's Sculpture was quite different from the one of Sansovino; unlike him Alessandro Vittoria preferred to impress unpon his statues a more movement's sensation which at the same time had to express rhythms and elegance.

The most interesting works by Vittoria are mainly bronze relief or little marble statues like the ones for the altar of San Francesco della Vigna (Venice).

Architecture in Venice

A great protagonist of Venetian architecture in XIV century was certainly Jacopo Tatti, called Sansovino.

He studied in Rome, and when he came back to Venice, he worked constantly for 40 years, building schools and civil palaces according to the sever style of Bramante.
In 1536 he was appointed in order to reorganize St. Mark's Square, where main political, economical and cultural activities were executed.
Sansovino completed the Procuratie Nuove. The most composite part is the Libreria Marciana (1537). It was designed in order to become the most prestigious cultural center.

Intention of Sansovino was to design buildings not contrasting the oldest ones, but just to balance the contrast between the Classical Roman architecture with the suggestive lagoon space.
In this way an harmonious "dialectic" between Old and New was created, an elegance of the whole square was clear.

Michele Sanmicheli dedicated his life only to Architecture. He was one of the first architects to diffuse in Veneto architectural style of middle Italy.
He built both civil and private palaces (such as Palazzi Canossa in Verona) according to the style of Bramante and Mannerism of Raffaello.

Andrea della Gondola called Palladio (1508-1580) is the most important architect from the Veneto during the Mannerism.
Unlike Sansovino and Sanmicheli, Palladio was educated in Veneto by Gian Girolamo Trissino. Palladio worked mostly in Venice and Vicenza, designing many rural palaces for noble families.

Palladio's most representative buildings are in Vicenza, a beautiful small city easily reachable from Venice in a short time.
Palladio's architecture influenced all the European architecture of the XVIII and XIX centuries. Great examples of Palladio's style in Venice are the church San Giorgio Maggiore and the Redentore .

Palladio was in some ways influenced by Vitruvius, but he soon developed his own distinguished signature. First of all Palladio was against the Baroque art, that was too eccentric and not suitable to the essential rules of the Architecture.
Although he worked in a period recognized as high-Renaissance /Mannerism from most of the art critics, Palladio could be defined a Renaissance artist.

To understand Palladio's opinion about Baroque we can mention what the same Ruskin thought about it: for him Baroque was a "grotesque Renaissance", that it to say a kind of art that had lost its original purposes at the base of the Renaissance style: essentiality, central importance of man, balance, rationality.

Palladio recognizes for his constant purpose to apply the typical style of the Greek and Roman temples in his church designs.

ART IN THE XVIII CENTURY

Painting:Tiepolo, Longhi, Canaletto, Bellotto, Guardi

During the XVIII century the Serenissima was really tired by military and economical losses. Venice, little by little, reduced its territories.
Nevertheless, painting had a new formidable flowering. Private funding replaced Government funding. Glorification of nobleness replaced Glorification of Republic.

Tiepolo, Longhi, Canaletto, Bertotto and Guardi are considered the most important artists of that period.

Giovan Battista Tiepolo joined at first the Tenebrous artistic movement, clear in works such as Martirio di San Bartolomeo.
He managed to have the commission for frescoing Venetian churches, palaces and aristocratic villas: villa Pisani in Stra, has his most prestigious fresco.

Tiepolo's painting differs from Baroque because it's more interested in creating contrast between fiction and reality. Tiepolo's representations are dreamlike, far from realistic perception of space.
Works of Tiepolo in Venice: Martirio di San Bartolomeo, 1722, San Stae.

During the XVIII century, Venice also cultivated an art not so spectacular and even less commemorative. A consisting part of this production was based on Vedutismo: a new art style that took inspiration from the big fashionable excursions (from which the modern term "tourism" derives).
Venice knew a splendid flowering of painters devoted to this new art style.

The most representative ones were Canaletto, Bellotto and Guardi.

Pietro Longhi (1702-1785) He is known as the painter for the middle-class. Longhi captures typical usages of middle class and nobleness according to a suave and elegant style. Throughout Longhi's paintings (for example Ritratto di Famiglia) an image of a decadent society emerges clearly.
Works of Longhi in Venice: Ritratto di Famiglia, 1760-65, Palazzo Leoni Montanari.

Giovanni Antonio Canal called Canaletto (1697-1768) found in Venice the ideal setting for his paintings.
He created his first open air paintings in Rome; when he came back to Venice he began to elaborate the so called "Capricci", a typical them of Rococo based on the free and imaginative assemblage of different elements in a unique setting.

Canaletto is also known for his "vedutisti" paintings that are closely related to a more realistic representation. His favour settings are urban centres.
In this phase Canaletto is interested in a perspective representation of buildings as well as in a diffused, homogenous light in the whole setting of the painting.

Canaletto sets up his works on a scrupulous reality study. The representation is subject to geometrical rules, so that to reproduce reality in the most likely way.

His "vedutist" works have always two perspective points which goes out of the canvass. To set the composition Canaletto uses also a "dark room".

Bernardo Bellotto (1720-1780) was the grandson of Canaletto. He advanced Canaletto's studies on Vedutismo looking for a more objective representation.

Francesco Guardi (1712-1793) today, he is considered one of the greatest painter of the XVIII century, and he was for a long period of time a "misunderstood artist". Unlike Canaletto, he was completely ignored by art neckers and lived in poverty.

Guardi differs himself from Canaletto for having a better artistic temperament; throughout his paintings a more remarkable contrast between dark and light emerges. Sky and water hardly differ themself in colour. In other words, his paintings give a more infinite sense, which approach Guardi to Romanticism.

ARCHITECTURE

Venetian architecture of the XVIII century took inspiration from Andrea Palladio. The new style intended to contrast Baroque style and its virtuous forms.
Architecture had to be more functional, essential and based on a serial elegance. In a word it had to be in a classical style.

The most influential spokesman of the new artistic style were Algarotti and Lodoli.
Palazzo Grassi-Stucky is a remarkable example. It's the most important work of Massari. It is based on the traditional concept of the Venetian palace according to a classical taste.

CONTEMPORARY ART IN VENICE

Venice is well known for its ancients works. The epoch of Serenissima is in glory. Nevertheless the city is also well-known for having important works of the XX century.

Peggy Guggenheim Museum is in fact the most important museum in Italy for European and American art of the first half of the XX century.
The private collections contain mostly works by Picasso, Braque, Duchamp; Léger, Brancusi, Severini, Balla, Delaunay, Kupka, Picabia; Mondrian, Kandinsky; Klee; Magritte, Dalì, Pollock.

The official web site: www.guggenheim-venice.it