Giovanni Bellini: 6 works

'Giovanni Bellini, who came from an important family of painters, was the son of Jacopo Bellini and the younger brother of Gentile as well as the brother-in law of Andrea Mantegna. In 1483 he became official painter of the Republic of Venice, and together with his pupils Giorgione and Titian he was one of the founders of the Venetian High Renaissance.'

'Giovanni Bellini's half-length devotional paintings of the Madonna and Child enjoyed great popularity in Venice, and later in his career he employed a large workshop to meet the demand. Bellini's tender images appeal to the viewer's sentiments, the many variations of pose and motif serving to remind the worshiper of Christ's redemptive role.'

'A moving evocation of the spiritual life and legacy of St. Francis of Assisi, Giovanni Bellini's St. Francis in the Desert is also a compendium of exquisitely researched detail.'

'The artist, probably Giovanni Bellini, relied on line to create gradations of light and shadow on this bearded man wearing a turban and holding a book. He unified the drawing with a wide range of hatching and cross-hatching, creating texture as well as tonal contrasts on his robe.'

'With the soft modelling style of their works, Giovanni Bellini and his studio shaped the face of Venetian painting as of the Early Renaissance.'

'Bellini completed it two years before his death in 1514. Years later, the Duke commissioned two reworkings of portions of Bellini's canvas.'