the Madonna of parturition by Piero della Francesca

Monday April 18th, 2016 , Artists and Works

The Madonna del parto (the Madonna of parturition) by Piero della Francesca

The Madonna del parto (Madonna of the parturition) by Piero della Francesca. One of the most fascinating and mysterious masterpieces by Piero della Francesca is located in Monterchi, in province of Arezzo.
It’s a fresco painted for a lateral altar in an old country church in the hill town of Monterchi.

It’s not clear the reason why Piero della Francesca, who was already a very famous artist, painted a fresco with such an uncommon theme in a small village. Probably the fresco was a homage to his mother, Romana di Renzo di Monterchi, who was born in this place.
This painting is characterized by a delicate beauty and an aura of mystery, that is to say features typical of Piero’s works, which arouse more doubts than certainties in the spectators, as I described in the post about the Brera Altarpiece.

Alvise Vivarini

Monday April 11th, 2016 , Artists and Works

Alvise Vivarini

Alvise Vivarini was born between 1442 and 1453 in Venice.
He trained in the family workshop with his father Antonio Vivarini and his uncle Bartolomeo, specializing in altarpiece painting.
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Latest discoveries. Maybe found the Crucifixion for Vittoria Colonna

Monday April 4th, 2016 , Artists and Works

Latest discoveries. Maybe found the Crucifixion for Vittoria Colonna

The Crucifixion for Vittoria Colonna. There’s a work by Michelangelo nobody has ever seen, but it was replicated and reinterpreted by numerous artists, who used it as a model for all the representations of the Crucifixion in which Christ is painted as the one who was capable of winning the death.
Michelangelo was the first who depicted the Crucified Christ alive, with his head upward, open eyes and in the attempt to lift from the cross. His painting was in contrast with the traditional representation of Christ suffering, with his head bent downwards otherwise in a regal and collected posture.

The British Museum in London holds a drawing of this work, considered the lost masterpiece by Michelangelo Buonarroti, or the masterpiece he never painted. It belonged to the Roman noblewoman Vittoria Colonna, and it is considered the drawing the Florentine artist himself painted and donated to the woman.

Antonio Vivarini

Tuesday March 29th, 2016 , Artists and Works

Antonio Vivarini, Portrait of St. Louis of Toulouse ( 1450 ca) – detail. Louvre.

Antonio Vivarini

Antonio Vivarini was born in Murano between 1415 and 1420.
He founded a family workshop very active in Venice, in which both his son Alvise and his brother Bartolomeo would work, but, above all, Antonio is one of the biggest proponents of that transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance in Venice.

The drunkenness of Noah by Giovanni Bellini

Monday March 21st, 2016 , Artists and Works

The drunkenness of Noah by Giovanni Bellini

The Drunkenness of Noah. The celebrations of the 500^th anniversary of the death of Giovanni Bellini have brought to Venice a masterpiece such as The Drunkenness of Noah on exhibition at the Museo Correr. The painting hasn’t come back to Italy for many years.

The painting, kept in the Musée des Beaux-Arts et Archéologie of Besançon (the Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology of Besançon) since 1895, is probably the last masterpiece by the old master and was attributed to him during the 20^th century, after a 400-years discussion between art critics and historians.