San Zaccaria Altarpiece

San Zaccaria Altarpiece
Artist	Giovanni Bellini
Year	1505
Medium	Oil on panel
Dimensions	500 cm × 235 cm (200 in × 93 in)
Location	San Zaccaria, Venice

The San Zaccaria Altarpiece (also called Madonna Enthroned with Child and Saints) is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Giovanni Bellini, executed in 1505 and located in the church of San Zaccaria, Venice.

History

The work was mentioned in 1648 by writer and painter Carlo Ridolfi as a large panel commissioned in memory of Venetian politician and diplomat Pietro Cappello; he described it as "one of the most beautiful and delicate by the artist".[1]

It is Bellini's first work in which the influence of Giorgione is undeniable, starting the last phase in the artist's career, a tonalist one[2]

Description

The work is set in a large niche, depicting a sacred conversation within an established scheme: the Madonna and Child enthroned, a musician angel on a step and four saints placed symmetrically at the sides. They are St. Peter the Apostle, St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Lucy and St. Jerome.[2]

While the general ensemble is not different from previous works, such as the San Giobbe Altarpiece (which shares the apse with mosaics, for example), Bellini introduced some novelties, such as the side openings with landscape, inspired by Alvise Vivarini Battutii Altarpiece, once in Belluno (now lost). The colors and light show the new adherence of Bellini to Giorgione's color and mood style.

The egg above Mary's head is a symbol of the creation, perhaps a citation of Piero della Francesca's Brera Altarpiece. The lucerne below recalls Andrea Mantegna's San Zeno Altarpiece.

References

Ridolfi, C. (1648). Le Meraviglie dell’arte, over le Vite degli illustri Pittori Veneti e dello Stato. I. venice. p. 54.
Olivari, Mariolina (2007). "Giovanni Bellini". Pittori del Rinascimento. Florence: Scala. ISBN 888117099X.

Sources

Olivari, Mariolina (2007). "Giovanni Bellini". Pittori del Rinascimento. Florence: Scala.

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[1] Ridolfi, C. (1648). Le Meraviglie dell’arte, over le Vite degli illustri Pittori Veneti e dello Stato. I. venice. p. 54.

[Mariolina-2] Olivari, Mariolina (2007). "Giovanni Bellini". Pittori del Rinascimento. Florence: Scala. ISBN 888117099X.

Giovanni Bellini
List of works
Paintings	St. Jerome in the Desert (Birmingham) Madonna and Child (Pavia) Transfiguration (Venice) Pietà (Bergamo) Crucifixion Pietà (Milan) Agony in the Garden Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels Presentation at the Temple Christ Blessing (Paris) Frizzoni Madonna Madonna and Child Blessing The Blood of the Redeemer Madonna and Child (Milan, 1460–1465) Greek Madonna Nativity Triptych Saint Vincent Ferrer Altarpiece San Lorenzo Triptych San Sebastiano Triptych Triptych of the Madonna The Head of St John the Baptist Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels (Berlin) Dead Christ Supported by Angels (Rimini) The Dead Christ Supported by the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist Lehman Madonna Pesaro Altarpiece Portrait of Georg Fugger Lochis Madonna Madonna and Child (Verona) Enthroned Madonna Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child Madonna and Child (Venice, 1475) Madonna Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child St. Francis in Ecstasy Contarini Madonna Resurrection of Christ Portrait of a Humanist Transfiguration of Christ (Naples) Willys Madonna St. Jerome in the Desert (Florence) St. Jerome Reading in the Countryside Alzano Madonna Madonna of the Red Cherubims Madonna and Child (New York, late 1480s) San Giobbe Altarpiece Madonna and Child with Saint Peter and Saint Sebastian Madonna of the Small Trees Barbarigo Altarpiece Frari Triptych Madonna and Child with Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Ursula Madonna and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist Portrait of a Young Man (Paris) Holy Allegory Portrait of a Young Senator Allegories Portrait of a Condottiero Annunciation Christ Blessing (Fort Worth) Circumcision of Christ* Lamentation over the Dead Christ (Florence) Portrait of a Young Man (Washington) Self-Portrait Portrait of a Young Man (Liverpool) Baptism of Christ Head of the Redeemer Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and a Female Saint Martinengo Pietà Portrait of a Young Man (Royal Collection) St. Jerome in the Desert (Washington) San Zaccaria Altarpiece Madonna del Prato The Infant Bacchus Sacred Conversation (Madrid) St. Mark Preaching in Alexandria The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr Madonna and Child with Four Saints and Donor The Continence of Scipio Madonna and Child (Detroit) Madonna and Child (Rome) Madonna and Child (Milan, 1510) Virgin in Glory with Saints Saints Christopher, Jerome and Louis of Toulouse The Feast of the Gods Drunkenness of Noah Naked Young Woman in Front of a Mirror Portrait of Fra Teodoro of Urbino as Saint Dominic Deposition
Family	Jacopo Bellini (father) Gentile Bellini (brother) Andrea Mantegna (brother-in-law)
* Workshop

San Zaccaria Altarpiece

History

Description

See also

References

Sources