Carlo Crivelli

Carlo Crivelli

Carlo Crivelli was an Italian artist who lived from around 1435 to 1494/1495. He was living during the early Italian Renaissance, but his art retained elements of the International Gothic style. Crivelli’s approach was individualistic and stylized. He was an inspiration for the Pre-Raphaelite artists of the nineteenth century, particularly Edward Burne-Jones.

Crivelli was born in Venice into a family of artists. His father was Jacopo Crivelli, and his younger brother was Vittore Crivelli, both noted artists in their day. As a young child, he received his earliest training in Venice before moving to Padua just on the mainland to continue his training. 

In Padua, he studied in the studio of Francesco Squarcione. He was influenced by the work of Jacopo Bellini, one of the founders of the Renaissance movement in Venice. The Padua tradition of art was very linear, almost mathematical in design. A style also seen in the work of Crivelli’s contemporary Andrea Mantegna. By the mid 1450s, Crivelli had opened his own studio in Padua and worked on commissions in both Padua and Venice. In 1457, he was sent to prison in Venice for six months for committing adultery with a married woman. After serving his time, he left the city, never to return. His intentional seclusion from Venice kept him out of contact with modern artistic trends. 

Crivelli moved about, spending some time in Zadar in modern day Croatia, staying there from 1463 to 1465. In 1465, he moved to near Ascoli Piceno in the March of Ancona in central Italy. He would live and work in this area for the rest of his life, including his mature period of art 

Crivelli painted primarily with egg tempera paints on wood panels. Oil paints were just being introduced into Italy around this time, and Crivelli refrained from using them. His work is marked by extreme detail. Richly decorated. Elongated hands and fingers, which many view as medieval and not renaissance-like. Instead of softness of form, he had strong delineated lines. Crivelli had a penchant for flowers which he often used to decorate his work. He was fond of the punched gold background commonly found in works from the International Gothic period.

His work had texture to it, creating visual depth. He used a technique called pastiglia, which is a buildup of low relief texture. He also created three-dimensional elements, creating masterful illusions. A lot of his work was decorated with gold leaf, either in the background, in the halos of religious individuals, or in the clothing of the figures he painted. He often signed his work, Carlo Crivelli of Venice.

In 1490, Carlo Crivelli was knighted by Ferdinant II of Naples. He died around 1495 at approximately 65 years old. Though extremely popular in his life with countless commissions, he fell out of favor after his death. Partly because of his tendency to work in the style of the International Gothic, while other artists were adapting newer more realistic styles and techniques. Crivelli’s work was rediscovered by the Pre-Raphaelite artists of the nineteenth century when he enjoyed a temporary revival in interest in his work.

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