Review. Panofsky, Durer in Venice

Albrecht Durer traveled to Venice in the latter half of 1505 and stayed until early in 1507. It seems that he had planned this journey for a while but apparently an outbreak of plague in Nuremburg hastened his departure. Erwin Panofsky devoted a whole chapter to the Venetian sojourn in his magisterial study, The Life and Art of Albrecht Durer. Panofsky entitled the chapter, ‘The Second Trip to Italy and the Culmination of Painting, 1505-1510/11.’

Panofsky points out that Durer had achieved a high degree of fame even before this visit to Venice. In Panofsky’s words,

The young beginner who had visited Venice eleven years before was now a world-renowned master whose inventions were copied and imitated everywhere. Also, he was no longer poor….Thus he did not walk about the city as an unknown and insignificant tourist but plunged into its colorful and stimulating life as a distinguished guest. He became acquainted with ‘intelligent scholars, good lute-players, flutists, connoisseurs of painting and many noble minds’ who honored and befriended him. [107-8]

Despite his mastery in wood-cut and engraving, Durer turned exclusively to oil painting while in Venice. Panofsky indicates that Venice and its painters had a great impact on the German master. From his correspondence we know that Durer regarded the aged Giovanni Bellini as still the greatest of painters, but in a letter dated February 7, 1506, Durer mentioned that he had also found “many painters much superior to Jacopo de’ Barbari,” an artist already well-known to Durer before the Italian trip.

Panofsky indicates that Durer turned to painting to show that he could work with color as well as any Venetian, but also because of the desires of his patrons in Venice. Almost immediately on his arrival Durer was welcomed by the prosperous German merchant community. It would appear that connections in Nuremberg and Augsburg had paved the way for him and even arranged a lucrative commission to paint an altarpiece for S. Bartolommeo, the German church in Venice. In a letter to a friend about the altarpiece, usually called the “Feast of the Rose Garlands,” Durer claimed that the commission was an effective way to “silence those who said I was good as an engraver but did not know how to handle the colors in painting.” [109-110]

On the completion of the Feast of the Rose Gardens Durer bragged, “I herewith announce that there is no better image of the Virgin in the country.” This claim might be exaggerated but the painting did gain much acclaim.

Old Giovanni Bellini…visited his studio and expressed the wish to acquire one of his paintings…When the “Feast of the Rose Garlands” was completed it was admired by the whole Venetian aristocracy, including the Doge and the Patriarch, and finally even by Durer’s colleagues….” [109]

Panofsky agrees with this contemporary evaluation despite the very poor condition of the painting today. “In one propitious moment he succeeded in synthesizing the force and accuracy of his design with the rich glow of Venetian color.” Panofsky acknowledges Durer’s debt to Bellini

The balanced grandeur of this composition would not have been attainable to Durer without the study and complete understanding of the style of Giovanni Bellini whom he so frankly admired… (112)

The painting was inspired by the increasingly popular devotion to the rosary, especially among the Dominican friars, whose founder was considered to have been the creator of the devotion. The rose garlands in the painting actually represent the decades of the rosary, and in Panofsky’s opinion the painting should actually be titled, “the Brotherhood of the Rosary.” 

While working on the altarpiece for S. Bartolommeo, Durer also completed two smaller paintings of sacred subjects. The first was the so-called Madonna of the Siskin, now in the Staatliche Museum in Berlin. The second was a version of Christ Among the Doctors that is now in the  Thyssen Bornemisza collection in Madrid.

The “Madonna of the Siskin” derives its popular name from the bird on the arm of the infant Jesus. However, it is actually a representation of the meeting of the young John the Baptist with the Holy Family on their return from the sojourn in Egypt. Panofsky notes that the young Baptist is the most significant iconographical feature in the painting.

The inclusion of this figure…was an utter novelty in Northern art which…knew only the triad of the Holy Family and the complete circle of the Holy Kinship, but not the “Virgin with the Infant Jesus and the Little St. John.” This theme was Central Italian rather than Venetian, but that compositions not unlike Durer’s…existed in Venice and the “Terra Firma” is demonstrated… [113]

In Panofsky’s opinion, Durer took this traditional subject to a new level. He “surpassed this and similar prototypes by enlivening the entire composition and by endowing the little St. John with a Leonardesque or even Raphaelesque vitality which had been foreign to the earlier Venetian and Venetianizing schools.”... [114]

While the Madonna of the Rose Garlands took months to complete, it would appear that Christ among the Doctors, the final painting in the Venetian triad, was done in a matter of days. Yet, Durer considered this painting as “something new and extraordinary” and Panofsky concurs.

The emphasis on manual gesticulation, and even the specific gesture of arguing by counting fingers is unquestionably Italian, as is also the compositional form as a whole. The idea of presenting a dramatic incident by half-length figures so that the whole effect is concentrated on the expressive quality of hands and faces had been sanctioned by Mantegna…and had gained favor in all the North Italian schools, particularly in Venice and Milan. [114]

Panofsky’s description of this painting reminds me of the so-called Three Ages of Man usually attributed to Giorgione. I have interpreted that painting as a dramatic incident also from the life of Christ: the Encounter of Jesus with the Rich Young Man. Giorgione, who was working in Venice at the same time as Durer, also used the expressive hands and faces of half-length figures to create an effect. In both paintings the half-length treatment provides a kind of close-up or zoom effect. 

Giorgione: "Three Ages of Man"
Pitti Palace

In the year after Durer left Venice, Giorgione was given the commission to fresco the exterior walls of the newly rebuilt Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the center of German community in Venice. Over the years scholars have tried to find some northern influence on Giorgione’s work, but Panofsky never mentions Giorgione. Instead, he argues that Durer was greatly influenced by what he saw in Venice. After his return to Germany, Durer eventually gave up painting and went back to his wood cuts and engravings. But they would never be the same. His stay in Venice had brought his work to an even greater level.

I like to think of him and Giorgione both trying to satisfy the demands of their patrons for sacred subjects while at the same time working to a make their work exceptional and innovative. 

###

Note: This essay originally appeared as a post on Giorgione et al... in 2014.

*Erwin Panofsky: The Life and Art of Albrecht Durer, Princeton, 1955. Page citations are in brackets.  

Durer in Venice

Albrecht Durer traveled to Venice in the latter half of 1505 and stayed until early in 1507. It seems that he had planned this journey for a while but apparently an outbreak of plague in Nuremburg hastened his departure. Erwin Panofsky devoted a whole chapter to the Venetian sojourn in his magisterial study, The Life and Art of Albrecht Durer. Panofsky entitled the chapter, ‘The Second Trip to Italy and the Culmination of Painting, 1505-1510/11.’

Panofsky points out that Durer had achieved a high degree of fame even before this visit to Venice. In Panofsky’s words,

The young beginner who had visited Venice eleven years before was now a world-renowned master whose inventions were copied and imitated everywhere. Also, he was no longer poor….Thus he did not walk about the city as an unknown and insignificant tourist but plunged into its colorful and stimulating life as a distinguished guest. He became acquainted with ‘intelligent scholars, good lute-players, flutists, connoisseurs of painting and many noble minds’ who honored and befriended him. [107-8]

Despite his mastery in wood-cut and engraving, Durer turned exclusively to oil painting while in Venice. Panofsky indicates that Venice and its painters had a great impact on the German master. From his correspondence we know that Durer regarded the aged Giovanni Bellini as still the greatest of painters, but in a letter dated February 7, 1506, Durer mentioned that he had also found “many painters much superior to Jacopo de’ Barbari,” an artist already well-known to Durer before the Italian trip.

Panofsky indicates that Durer turned to painting to show that he could work with color as well as any Venetian, but also because of the desires of his patrons in Venice. Almost immediately on his arrival Durer was welcomed by the prosperous German merchant community. It would appear that connections in Nuremberg and Augsburg had paved the way for him and even arranged a lucrative commission to paint an altarpiece for S. Bartolommeo, the German church in Venice. In a letter to a friend about the altarpiece, usually called the “Feast of the Rose Garlands,” Durer claimed that the commission was an effective way to “silence those who said I was good as an engraver but did not know how to handle the colors in painting.” [109-110]

On the completion of the Feast of the Rose Gardens Durer bragged, “I herewith announce that there is no better image of the Virgin in the country.” This claim might be exaggerated but the painting did gain much acclaim.

Old Giovanni Bellini…visited his studio and expressed the wish to acquire one of his paintings…When the “Feast of the Rose Garlands” was completed it was admired by the whole Venetian aristocracy, including the Doge and the Patriarch, and finally even by Durer’s colleagues….” [109]

Panofsky agrees with this contemporary evaluation despite the very poor condition of the painting today. “In one propitious moment he succeeded in synthesizing the force and accuracy of his design with the rich glow of Venetian color.” Panofsky acknowledges Durer’s debt to Bellini

The balanced grandeur of this composition would not have been attainable to Durer without the study and complete understanding of the style of Giovanni Bellini whom he so frankly admired… (112)

The painting was inspired by the increasingly popular devotion to the rosary, especially among the Dominican friars, whose founder was considered to have been the creator of the devotion. The rose garlands in the painting actually represent the decades of the rosary, and in Panofsky’s opinion the painting should actually be titled, “the Brotherhood of the Rosary.” 

While working on the altarpiece for S. Bartolommeo, Durer also completed two smaller paintings of sacred subjects. The first was the so-called Madonna of the Siskin, now in the Staatliche Museum in Berlin. The second was a version of Christ Among the Doctors that is now in the  Thyssen Bornemisza collection in Madrid.

The “Madonna of the Siskin” derives its popular name from the bird on the arm of the infant Jesus. However, it is actually a representation of the meeting of the young John the Baptist with the Holy Family on their return from the sojourn in Egypt. Panofsky notes that the young Baptist is the most significant iconographical feature in the painting.

The inclusion of this figure…was an utter novelty in Northern art which…knew only the triad of the Holy Family and the complete circle of the Holy Kinship, but not the “Virgin with the Infant Jesus and the Little St. John.” This theme was Central Italian rather than Venetian, but that compositions not unlike Durer’s…existed in Venice and the “Terra Firma” is demonstrated… [113]

In Panofsky’s opinion, Durer took this traditional subject to a new level. He “surpassed this and similar prototypes by enlivening the entire composition and by endowing the little St. John with a Leonardesque or even Raphaelesque vitality which had been foreign to the earlier Venetian and Venetianizing schools.”... [114]

While the Madonna of the Rose Garlands took months to complete, it would appear that Christ among the Doctors, the final painting in the Venetian triad, was done in a matter of days. Yet, Durer considered this painting as “something new and extraordinary” and Panofsky concurs.

The emphasis on manual gesticulation, and even the specific gesture of arguing by counting fingers is unquestionably Italian, as is also the compositional form as a whole. The idea of presenting a dramatic incident by half-length figures so that the whole effect is concentrated on the expressive quality of hands and faces had been sanctioned by Mantegna…and had gained favor in all the North Italian schools, particularly in Venice and Milan. [114]

Panofsky’s description of this painting reminds me of the so-called Three Ages of Man usually attributed to Giorgione. I have interpreted that painting as a dramatic incident also from the life of Christ: the Encounter of Jesus with the Rich Young Man. Giorgione, who was working in Venice at the same time as Durer, also used the expressive hands and faces of half-length figures to create an effect. In both paintings the half-length treatment provides a kind of close-up or zoom effect. 

Giorgione: "Three Ages of Man"
Pitti Palace

In the year after Durer left Venice, Giorgione was given the commission to fresco the exterior walls of the newly rebuilt Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the center of German community in Venice. Over the years scholars have tried to find some northern influence on Giorgione’s work, but Panofsky never mentions Giorgione. Instead, he argues that Durer was greatly influenced by what he saw in Venice. After his return to Germany, Durer eventually gave up painting and went back to his wood cuts and engravings. But they would never be the same. His stay in Venice had brought his work to an even greater level.

I like to think of him and Giorgione both trying to satisfy the demands of their patrons for sacred subjects while at the same time working to a make their work exceptional and innovative. 

###

Note: This essay originally appeared as a post on Giorgione et al... five years ago, on April 28, 2014.

*Erwin Panofsky: The Life and Art of Albrecht Durer, Princeton, 1955. Page citations are in brackets. 

Venice in 1500

     

                   

It is hard to imagine today but in the year 1500 Venice was the greatest power on the European continent. Founded in the fifth century by refugees seeking the protection of its lagoons from barbarian invaders, the city had become the leading commercial power in the Mediterranean world by the fifteenth century, especially after it had emerged victorious in its life and death struggle with archrival Genoa. Subsequently, Venice became much more than a sea power by gradually extending its dominion over the various cities in the surrounding mainland, the so-called Veneto. This process was largely completed by 1500 and Venice was even beginning to make incursions into the Papal States.

In 1500 none of the other cities in Renaissance Italy could compare with Venice in wealth, military power, or political stability. Florence was mired in civil strife after the downfall of the Medici. Pope Alexander VI and his notorious son, Cesare Borgia, were attempting to regain control over the various warlords of the Papal States, but events were to show that their efforts were built on sand. The fall of the House of Sforza in Milan had made that city and Genoa puppets of the French monarchy. Even the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily was mired in conflict between French and Spanish claimants to the throne.

At the same time France, Spain, England and Germany hardly existed as unified nations and were only beginning to be in a position to challenge Venice after a century of internal disorder and ruinous wars. Still suffering from the ravages of the Hundred Years War, the crafty Kings of France were contending with powerful local nobles while at the same time engaging in costly foreign adventures. In Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella had spent the first 30 years of their reigns subduing not only rebellious nobles but also eliminating the last vestiges of Moslem Granada. It would take decades before the discoveries following the voyage of Columbus would help refill the depleted treasuries of Castile and Aragon. England was no better off. The Hundred Years War had been followed by the Wars of the Roses, and although Henry VII was to prove a skillful and resourceful ruler, the success of his Tudor dynasty was by no means assured. Despite the presence of the Holy Roman Empire, the various German states, both large and small, were disorganized and relatively poor. In 1509 it took the combined forces of the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of France, and the Papacy led by the warrior Pope Julius II to inflict a serious but only temporary defeat on Venice at the battle of Agnadello. Within a couple of years the Venetians had recouped most of their losses in the Veneto.

 By 1500 only the Ottoman Empire stood as a serious rival to the power of Venice. The conquest of Constantinople had finally brought an end to the last vestige of the Roman Empire, and established a secure foothold for the Sultan in Europe. Venice appeared to be the only state in Europe with the wealth and sea power necessary to resist further Moslem expansion. Although the Venetians seemed to prefer negotiations with the Infidel in order to safeguard their commercial interests, on occasion they did resort to military action to protect their overseas colonies.

Historians can look back and mark the downfall of Venice to 1453 with the fall of Constantinople, or in 1492 with the discovery of the “New World” by Columbus, but in 1500 the hegemony of Venice in the Mediterranean world seemed secure. The great city-state had existed for over 1000 years, and it would survive as an independent entity for another 300. In 1500 Venice was not just a city, or even a city-state, it was a great island empire.

Contemporary commentators noted that the unique government of Venice provided the stability that lay behind its greatness. Venice was a republic and not a monarchy. The titles of King and Queen were forbidden in Venice. The Doge, the chief executive officer, was elected for life and the position was never hereditary. However, the position of Doge had all the trappings of monarchy. The Doge’s palace on St. Mark’s square was unrivalled in Europe. The ancient and magnificent Church of San Marco was the chapel of the Doge and not the cathedral of the Patriarch of Venice. In fact, only recently had the position of Bishop of Aquileia been elevated to that of Patriarch. Despite the exalted title the appointment of the Patriarch was in the hands of the Venetian government. More than any other country in Europe, the Venetian church was firmly controlled by the state.

The Doge was chosen from the ranks of the patrician families that effectively ruled Venice. Although titles of nobility were also forbidden, Venetian patricians formed the most aristocratic class in all Europe. Unlike England, for example, where the King could elevate wealthy or powerful commoners to the ranks of the nobility, newcomers could not be added to the ranks of the patricians for any reason. In Venice wealth and military prowess were not sufficient to enter the ruling class. It was a closed caste. Positions in the Senate, the Venetian governing body, were reserved for patricians.

Although socially inferior to the patrician class, a host of humanist scholars, scribes, and lawyers played a key role in serving the State and its rulers. Forbidden by law and custom to marry either above or below their caste, these ‘mandarins’ performed both actual and virtual service to the State. At the head of the humanist bureaucracy was the Grand Chancellor, the highest-ranking non-patrician in the government. In most cases his position was also a lifetime appointment. Other humanists served as legal advisors, scribes, and even diplomats. Their virtual service to the State was just as important. They were the writers and historians who used their classical learning to extol the greatness and the destiny of Venice. In other Renaissance centers humanists might place their own studies first and even challenge traditional culture and religious orthodoxy. But Venetian humanists, even those who came from abroad, placed themselves and their learning at the service of the State.

The various merchant and manufacturing classes that made up the rest of the city’s population could be found in any other thriving medieval city, but no other city could match the wealth and prosperity of the Venetians. Venice was the Big Apple.

The artists of the city were regarded as mere craftsmen and they belonged to the guild that represented house painters and wallpaper hangers. The steady demand for devotional images for both public and private use was being augmented as the new century opened by the increasing needs of wealthy patrons to fill their new palaces with beautiful works of art.

Only at the turn of the century would the two Bellini brothers, Gentile and Giovanni, achieve independent fame and recognition. The correspondence of Isabella d’Este shows that Giovanni Bellini had become a kind of super star able to call his own shots and keep wealthy patrons in waiting. It was into this environment that Giorgione and Titian, two young artists from the Veneto, arrived in Venice to seek fame and fortune.

 ###

Giorgione's Venice

      

Gentile Bellini: Procession in Venice, St. Mark's Square

                   

It is hard to imagine today but in the year 1500 Venice was the greatest power on the European continent. Founded in the fifth century by refugees seeking the protection of its lagoons from barbarian invaders, the city had become the leading commercial power in the Mediterranean world by the fifteenth century, especially after it had emerged victorious in its life and death struggle with archrival Genoa. Subsequently, Venice became much more than a sea power by gradually extending its dominion over the various cities in the surrounding mainland, the so-called Veneto. This process was largely completed by 1500 and Venice was even beginning to make incursions into the Papal States.

In 1500 none of the other cities in Renaissance Italy could compare with Venice in wealth, military power, or political stability. Florence was mired in civil strife after the downfall of the Medici. Pope Alexander VI and his notorious son, Cesare Borgia, were attempting to regain control over the various warlords of the Papal States, but events were to show that their efforts were built on sand. The fall of the House of Sforza in Milan had made that city and Genoa puppets of the French monarchy. Even the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily was mired in conflict between French and Spanish claimants to the throne.

At the same time France, Spain, England and Germany hardly existed as unified nations and were only beginning to be in a position to challenge Venice after a century of internal disorder and ruinous wars. Still suffering from the ravages of the Hundred Years War, the crafty Kings of France were contending with powerful local nobles while at the same time engaging in costly foreign adventures. In Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella had spent the first 30 years of their reigns subduing not only rebellious nobles but also eliminating the last vestiges of Moslem Granada. It would take decades before the discoveries following the voyage of Columbus would help refill the depleted treasuries of Castile and Aragon. England was no better off. The Hundred Years War had been followed by the Wars of the Roses, and although Henry VII was to prove a skillful and resourceful ruler, the success of his Tudor dynasty was by no means assured. Despite the presence of the Holy Roman Empire, the various German states, both large and small, were disorganized and relatively poor. In 1509 it took the combined forces of the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of France, and the Papacy led by the warrior Pope Julius II to inflict a serious but only temporary defeat on Venice at the battle of Agnadello. Within a couple of years the Venetians had recouped most of their losses in the Veneto.

 By 1500 only the Ottoman Empire stood as a serious rival to the power of Venice. The conquest of Constantinople had finally brought an end to the last vestige of the Roman Empire, and established a secure foothold for the Sultan in Europe. Venice appeared to be the only state in Europe with the wealth and sea power necessary to resist further Moslem expansion. Although the Venetians seemed to prefer negotiations with the Infidel in order to safeguard their commercial interests, on occasion they did resort to military action to protect their overseas colonies.

Historians can look back and mark the downfall of Venice in 1453 with the fall of Constantinople, or in 1492 with the discovery of the “New World” by Columbus, but in 1500 the hegemony of Venice in the Mediterranean world seemed secure. The great city-state had existed for over 1000 years, and it would survive as an independent entity for another 300. In 1500 Venice was not just a city, or even a city-state, it was a great island empire.

Contemporary commentators noted that the unique government of Venice provided the stability that lay behind its greatness. Venice was a republic and not a monarchy. The titles of King and Queen were forbidden in Venice. The Doge, the chief executive officer, was elected for life and the position was never hereditary. However, the position of Doge had all the trappings of monarchy. The Doge’s palace on St. Mark’s square was unrivalled in Europe. The ancient and magnificent Church of San Marco was the chapel of the Doge and not the cathedral of the Patriarch of Venice. In fact, only recently had the position of Bishop of Aquileia been elevated to that of Patriarch. Despite the exalted title the appointment of the Patriarch was in the hands of the Venetian government. More than any other country in Europe, the Venetian church was firmly controlled by the state.

The Doge was chosen from the ranks of the patrician families that effectively ruled Venice. Although titles of nobility were also forbidden, Venetian patricians formed the most aristocratic class in all Europe. Unlike England, for example, where the King could elevate wealthy or powerful commoners to the ranks of the nobility, newcomers could not be added to the ranks of the patricians for any reason. In Venice wealth and military prowess were not sufficient to enter the ruling class. It was a closed caste. Positions in the Senate, the Venetian governing body, were reserved for patricians.

Although socially inferior to the patrician class, a host of humanist scholars, scribes, and lawyers played a key role in serving the State and its rulers. Forbidden by law and custom to marry either above or below their caste, these ‘mandarins’ performed both actual and virtual service to the State. At the head of the humanist bureaucracy was the Grand Chancellor, the highest-ranking non-patrician in the government. In most cases his position was also a lifetime appointment. Other humanists served as legal advisors, scribes, and even diplomats. Their virtual service to the State was just as important. They were the writers and historians who used their classical learning to extol the greatness and the destiny of Venice. In other Renaissance centers humanists might place their own studies first and even challenge traditional culture and religious orthodoxy. But Venetian humanists, even those who came from abroad, placed themselves and their learning at the service of the State.

The various merchant and manufacturing classes that made up the rest of the city’s population could be found in any other thriving medieval city, but no other city could match the wealth and prosperity of the Venetians. Venice was the Big Apple.

The artists of the city were regarded as mere craftsmen and they belonged to the guild that represented house painters and wallpaper hangers. The steady demand for devotional images for both public and private use was being augmented as the new century opened by the increasing needs of wealthy patrons to fill their new palaces with beautiful works of art.

Only at the turn of the century would the two Bellini brothers, Gentile and Giovanni, achieve independent fame and recognition. The correspondence of Isabella d’Este shows that Giovanni Bellini had become a kind of super star able to call his own shots and keep wealthy patrons in waiting. It was into this environment that Giorgione and Titian, two young artists from the Veneto, arrived in Venice to seek fame and fortune.

In the background of the "Tallard" Madonna, usually attributed to Giorgione, we get another view of St. Mark's Square with the famed tower awaiting the addition of it's spire. Scholars date the painting between 1506 and 1513 because of the buildings depicted.###

Giorgione: "Tallard Madonna", Oxford