DURER AND RENAISSANCE VENICE / PAINTING IN RENAISSANCE VENICE

Albrecht Dürer was one of the very first northern artists to respond to Italian Renaissance art. After learning all he could from imported prints and books he resolved to cross the Alps to study Italian art at first hand. Rather than travelling to Florence or Rome, Dürer stopped and stayed in Venice. On his arrival, Venetian artists received him with great honour but with some jealousy. The technical brilliance of his graphic work had made a big impact in Italy, yet his paintings were said to lack such qualities as the deep, rich colour for which Venetian art was renowned. Dürer was determined to ‘stop the mouths’ of his critics before returning to effect a revolution, a ‘renaissance’ in the arts in Germany. Close links between Venice and Germany had been long established and this course will examine this direct cultural cross-fertilisation, focusing on works Dürer produced in Italy under the inspiration of Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione and others, together with the influence Dürer’s work had upon them. The relationship between Italian art and other German painters such as Cranach or sculptors such as Riemenschneider will also be covered.

Painting in Renaissance Venice was quite distinct from that of Florence or Rome. Its unique characteristics such as the range and use of colour, or the depiction of light were being transformed by Giovanni Bellini and a new generation, particularly Giorgione, in the years that exactly coincided with Dürer’s arrival.

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