Giorgione
Giorgione, whose full name was Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco, was an Italian artist of the Renaissance. He lived from circa 1477 to 1510. Along with Titian, Giorgione was one of the founders of the Venetian School of the High Renaissance. He was one of the first artists to paint figures in the landscape that were in motion and not static. He was also the first to use such brilliant colors with a poetic mood that would soon typify the Venetian School.
Giorgione was born inland just northwest of Venice, Italy. He moved to Venice and apprenticed under the artist, Giovanni Bellini. Giorgione’s skills were recognized at a young age. In 1500 at age 23, he received the esteemed commission to paint portraits of the chief magistrate of Venice.
Giorgione founded the Venetian School of Italian Renaissance painting with fellow Venetian artist, Titian. The Venetian School differs from the Florentine School of the Italian Renaissance. It employs brighter colors and a melancholier mood than the Florentine artist. Giorgione was very popular in his day. He was known to be poetic and melancholy. The relationship between Giorgione and Titian is unclear. Titian was about ten years his junior. Either Giorgione was Titian’s teacher, or they were pupils together. They worked together on several commissions.
In 1510, Giorgione died young, at just 33 years old, likely from the plague. Only six works that can definitely be ascribed to him have survived today. This includes an altarpiece, frescoes, and small paintings commissioned for a wealthy Venetian art collector. Other paintings are believed to have been made by him, but they are not definitive. After Giorgione’s untimely death, Titian was employed to finish some of his works. In these pieces, it is hard to distinguish the extent of what Giorgione painted and how much Titian painted.
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