Giovanni Bellini

Giovani Bellini - First influences: Andrea Mantegna, Francesco Squarcione, Donatello

Giovani Bellini was born in Venice in the year 1437. The illegitimate son of the Venetian painter Jacopo Bellini, and the younger brother of Gentile Bellini, he came from a notable painting family. His father taught him the basics of painting; however, for his first independent artistic attempts, Giovanni Bellini oriented himself primarily on the style of his brother-in-law Andrea Mantegna, the husband of his sister Nicolosia. Mantegna introduced the Bellini brothers to the Paduan school of Francesco Squarcione and it was in Padua that Giovanni became acquainted with and particularly admired the work of Donatello. Religious devotional pictures held a focal point in Giovani Bellini’s work from early on, the Byzantine and Greek icons often found in Venice providing models for his numerous depictions of the Madonna. However, he never limited himself to simple imitation, but developed his own style based on the chosen foundation, in which he skillfully worked out the emotional relationship between mother and child. 

Great success: Official painter of the Republic of Venice

In the 1470s, Giovanni Bellini received numerous public commissions and with this, notable prestige. Together with his father and brother, he played an important part in the development of the highly praised Venetian portrait painting. Bellini favoured depicting his sitter in three-quarter profile, hitherto rarely seen, and for the green and gold landscape background chose a characteristic painting style of soft and luminous oil colours which the great innovator of Italian painting, Antonello da Messina, had brought to Venice from the Netherlands. His contractors included such highly important personalities as the urbane culture-loving Margravine of Mantua, Isabella d’Este and Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga. In 1483, Giovanni Bellini was appointed official painter of the Republic of Venice, and entrusted with the decoration of the Sala de Maggior Consiglio in the Doge’s Palace. Of all things, very little of this honorable assignment has been preserved for posterity as many of the artworks created fell victim to a devastating fire in 1577. 

Teacher and role model: Giorgione, Titian and Albrecht Dürer

Giovanni Bellini belonged to the most coveted artists of his time and could hardly keep up with the immense demand for his paintings. He solved this problem with the help of his workshop where he employed numerous talented artists to paint according to his specifications. His students and co-workers included such significant artists as Giorgione and Titian. The great international reputation enjoyed by Bellini is also reflected in a letter from the German master Albrecht Dürer in which he hails the Venetian as the best painter of his time. Dürer’s last great work, the famous diptych The Four Apostles, was largely inspired by Bellini’s triptych Enthroned Madonna and Four Evangelists in the Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.

Giovanni Bellini died on 29 November 1516 in his birth and hometown of Venice.