525 Videos

256 Essays

6 mil.Visits

1500 – 1600
End of the Renaissance and the Reformation

The Reformation More
Setting the Stage Martin Luther Varieties of Protestantism The Counter-Reformation
High Renaissance More
Introduction Andrea del Verrocchio The Baptism of Christ Leonardo A Letter to the Duke of Milan Looking for Work Adoration of the Magi Virgin of the Rocks The Last Supper Burlington House Cartoon Mona Lisa Michelangelo Pietà David David and Florence Moses The Slaves Sistine Chapel Ceiling The Last Judgment Laurentian Library Raphael Marriage of the Virgin Madonna of the Goldfinch La belle jardinière School of Athens Alba Madonna Portrait of Pope Julius II Galatea Bramante Tempietto Saint Peter's Basilica Galileo Science in the Renaissance Art and Science in the Renaissance
Venice More
Introduction Giorgione The Tempest The Adoration of the Shepherds Three Philosophers Giovanni Bellini and Titian Feast of the Gods Titian Bacchus and Ariadne Noli me Tangere Portrait of a Man Assumption of the Virgin Madonna of the Pesaro Family Venus of Urbino Christ Crowned with Thorns Correggio (Parma) Jupiter and Io Assumption of the Virgin Paolo Veronese The Family of Darius before Alexander The Dream of Saint Helena Feast in the House of Levi Tintoretto The Miracle of the Slave The Origin of the Milky Way
Mannerism More
Introduction Michelangelo and the Beginnings of Mannerism Parmigianino Madonna of the Long Neck Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror Pontormo Entombment Rosso Fiorentino The Dead Christ with Angels Bronzino Portraits Portrait of Eleonora di Toledo with her son Giovanni Cellini Perseus with the Head of Medusa El Greco Adoration of the Shepherds
Northern Renaissance More
Albrecht Dürer The Four Apostles Self-portrait (1498) Self-Portrait (1500) The Large Piece of Turf Prints Hieronymus Bosch Last Judgement Jan Gossaert Saint Luke Painting the Madonna Albrecht Altdorfer The Battle of Issus Lucas Cranach The Law and Gospel Adam and Eve Cupid Complaining to Venus Judith with the Head of Holofernes Wittenberg Altarpiece Hans Holbein the Younger The Ambassadors The Merchant Georg Gisze Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan Portrait of Henry VIII Gerard David The Virgin and Child with Saints and Donor Pieter Bruegel the Elder The Tower of Babel The Dutch Proverbs

Bellini's and Titian's The Feast of the Gods

Giovanni Bellini and Titian, The Feast of the Gods, 1514 and 1529, oil on canvas
(National Gallery of Art)

Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris, Dr. Steven Zucker

Part of a mythological cycle painted by Titian and Giovanni Bellini and commissioned
by Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara that includes Bacchus and Ariadne and the Andrians.
Originally hung in the studiolo or Camerini d'Alabastro of the Duke's Ferranese castle.

Please also see our video on Bellini's Saint Francis in Ecstacy at the Frick Collection

Your Comments (1)

Previous Comments

Nikko N.S. wrote on Tuesday, May 01, 2012

I look at this painting, and then I look at the former dominant Byzantine style. Byzantine artwork was very systematic in the way humans were drawn. Fingers and noses were thin and lengthy. Facial expressions were almost never present. Whenever Christ was depicted as a young child he still looked as if he was an adult. I see the style as almost being sinister despite what the paintings portray. Then I look at a High Renaissance art piece and nearly everything is opposite to the Byzantine style. Colors are much more vivid; they are more appealing to the eye. The people in these works are filled with emotion and I think a lot of this emotion comes from the aspect of movement in High Renaissance art. There is also a sense of space and area. The larger, more important, figures are placed right in front of your eyes. They are filled with bright and dynamic colors, and they also contain plentiful detail (specifically in clothing). In the back you might have a mountain that has some trees on it. These colors are much cooler and less definite. These paintings are far more realistic and appealing; this is why the Renaissance art movements is one of my favorite ones.