BELLINI, Giovanni
(b. ca. 1426, Venezia, d. 1516, Venezia)

Madonna with Child Blessing

1460-64
Tempera on wood, 79 x 63 cm
Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

The picture was originally hung in the offices of the Magistrato del Monte Nuovissimo at Palazzo dei Camerlinghi in Venice. It still retains clear evidence of contact with the world of Mantegna though the graphic and plastic values which are so boldly expressed inhabit the same space as the dense chromatic texture which is so vibrant and responsive to the several degrees of light on the dark background. The stiff severity of the perspective-drawing lesson of Mantegna has by now relaxed into an expressive liveliness whose foundation is in the new, human relationship of light and colour.




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